


Candy Man

by gilesbabe



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-04
Updated: 2012-09-04
Packaged: 2017-11-13 14:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilesbabe/pseuds/gilesbabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Synopsis: Ripper turns Buffy's world upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Buffy Meets Ripper

**Author's Note:**

> This was posted on allthejellies in 2004, and my lj in 2005. Escargoat was asking in her journal on livejournal.com if there have been any stories based on Band Candy with Giles/Buffy instead of Giles/Joyce. The point was stressed that to follow cannon there had to be either no sex because Buffy is still underage, or move the episode to after her 18th birthday. I decided to go with same time frame in Season 3, so no sex, but plenty of kissing and touching. After all 17-year olds do that all the time, and Giles does know that she is no longer a virgin. (g) Fair warning, there is ick factor. I made it Joyce/Snyder. Hehehe.

"Do you think she noticed anything?"

Giles turned from the mantel, a cigarette in his mouth. As he lowered his head to light the cigarette he looked out the window, following Buffy until she was out of sight. He smiled. "No. For such a smart girl she can be really stupid at times."

Joyce frowned. "Buffy is not stupid."

"Didn't I just say she was smart? But really," he sniffed the air, "I can smell the beer, even though it's closed now, not to mention the cigarette smoke from before. With her enhanced Slayer senses she couldn't have missed them. Just because in her pretty little brain 'Mom and Giles and beer and cigarettes' don't go together, she wouldn't let herself smell them."

Giles frowned. "I'll have to scold her about that. Ignoring her senses just because someone is doing something unexpected could put her in danger."

Joyce got up from the sofa and walked over to Giles, putting her arm around him. She leaned in close to his face and said, petulantly, "Buffy, Buffy, Buffy. That’s all you ever want to talk about. I thought we were going to have some fun." She ran her hand up his back and tickled the nape of his neck.

"She's my Slayer. She always comes first, she always will. If you don't like it, shove off." He pulled away from her and walked over to the record player.

Joyce pouted, but it didn't have the same effect as when Buffy does it and Giles ignored her. After a few minutes she shrugged and joined him at the record player. "It's just that she's my daughter; I shouldn't have to compete with her for a man's attention."

"Well, she's not MY daughter, and there's no competition. She's first." Giles glared at her. "Do you want to listen to this record, or do you want to argue?"

Joyce glared back. "If she's so special, why didn't you go with her? Some vampire might be sneaking up on her as we speak."

"Not bloody likely, it's still daylight. Time enough to go after her when it gets dark. Now do you want to listen to this or not?" He took another drag from his cigarette.

Joyce shrugged again, walked over to the end table, and reached under it to pull out a bottle of beer. She opened it and took a swig. "Sure, why not."

 

Buffy pulled up outside of Willow's house and honked the horn. Willow stared in astonishment when she saw Buffy behind the wheel.

"How did you get your Mom to let you have the car?"

Buffy smiled brightly. "I didn't even ask, she just gave me the keys. Said that Giles could drive her home later. Pretty cool, huh?" She put the car in gear and zoomed away from the curb.

Willow quickly fastened her seat belt and braced a hand against the dashboard. "Giles was with your Mom? Did he say why he wasn't at school?"

"Giles said they decided to set up a schedule for me and that was more important than school." Buffy frowned. "Something felt weird, Will. They were acting like they were trying to get rid of me. Mom just handed me the keys and told me to drive carefully." 

She turned to give Willow a serious look. "Just yesterday she was all paranoid about me running away if she let me use the car. And she brought all that up about me failing the written test. Then today she just handed me the keys and practically shoved me out the door."

Willow took a panic stricken look ahead. "Buffy, road!"

Buffy swerved just in time to keep from hitting a parked car. Once the car was going straight again, she turned back to Willow. "I tell you Will, something was wrong. If I didn't know better I could have sworn that I smelled cigarette smoke in Giles' apartment."

Willow, her eyes firmly on the street ahead, frowned. "But, Giles doesn’t smoke, and neither does your Mom, so how could you have smelled cigarette smoke?" Her frown cleared. "Oh, someone else must have left just before you got there."

Still frowning, Buffy turned her attention back to the road. "Maybe, but something just felt, I don't know, off. Like it wasn't really my Mom and Giles that I was talking to."

"Do you think we should go over there and check it out?"

Buffy thought for a few minutes, then her frown cleared. "Better not. Mom might change her mind and take back the car. Let's go see what the guys are doing."

 

Later that evening, back at Giles' apartment, things looked very different. 

Giles had changed clothes. He was wearing a pair of tight, faded, blue jeans and a white t-shirt. His hair was styled differently, there was an earring in his left ear, and he wasn't wearing his glasses. He was lying on the floor, smoking yet another cigarette, and listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. An empty beer bottle rested next to his other hand.

Joyce was lounging back on the sofa. She had obviously been home for a change of clothes. The short skirt, knee high boots, and blouse with most of its buttons undone looked like something Buffy would wear. She was wearing a lot of bangle bracelets and large hoop earrings. Her hair had been re-styled and she was wearing more make-up than she did normally. She took a drink from another beer.

"I'm bored. I thought we were going to have some fun, but all we're doing is listening to your records. Let's go to the Bronze."

Ripper sat up and glared at her. "That place is nowhere, I wouldn't be caught dead there."

"Well, the kids think it's fun, and I want to go." Joyce glared back.

"I'm not stopping you, go ahead."

"But it's dark out there. What about all the vampires?"

Ripper heaved a big sigh. "All right, I'll walk you to the Bronze. But you're on your own after that." He sat up a little straighter. "I should find Buffy and make sure she's safe too." He stood, went over to Joyce, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go." 

They headed for the door, Ripper automatically detouring to grab some stakes from the weapons chest. Joyce took some as well and put them in her purse. 

As they walked down the street, Joyce put her arm around Ripper's waist, getting as close to him as possible while still moving. He looked down at her in irritation, then shrugged and put his arm around her shoulders. Joyce kept trying to start a conversation, but Ripper wasn't paying attention. His eyes were scanning the streets and sidewalks around them.

"Are you looking for vampires?"

"No, I'm looking for Buffy. She should be patrolling, but I don't see her. I hope she hasn't run into any problems."

Joyce pulled away in a huff. "Buffy, again. She's all you ever want to talk about. Maybe she should live with you for a while, and then you would see how hard it is to be the parent of a Slayer. I don't know where she is half the time, staying out all hours of the night." She started to stalk away.

Ripper grabbed her hand, turning her back to him. "Listen, you stupid bint, I'll only say this one more time. Buffy is not my daughter. And if she did live with me I wouldn't have any problem knowing where she was at night." He smiled suggestively.

Joyce gaped at him for a moment, then decided that he wasn’t implying what he seemed to be implying. She jerked her hand away and started back down the street, only to stop in front of a store window. "That is so pretty."

Ripper looked at the feathered wrap on the mannequin, imagining it on Buffy. If he got it for Joyce, maybe she'd let Buffy wear it. "That would look good on you. Do you fancy it?"

Joyce looked around. "The store's closed."

Ripper gave her a wicked grin. "No problem." He picked up a nearby trash can and threw it through the window. Joyce looked around nervously as the sound of breaking glass echoed in the street. Ripper climbed into the display and took the wrap off the mannequin. As he prepared to jump out of the display he grabbed a hat that was there and put it on. Jumping out, he placed the wrap around Joyce's shoulders. They started to walk on down the street.

"Hold it right there!" The voice came from behind them. They turned and saw a police officer pointing a gun at them. 

Joyce gave a little scream and grabbed onto Ripper's arm. He shook her off, pushing her gently away. He grinned mischievously, moving away from her and towards the officer.

"Don't come any closer!" the officer demanded, the gun shaking.

"Ripper, be careful." Joyce warned. 

"He's not going to shoot me, are you?" Ripper taunted, moving slightly to the left as he stepped nearer.

The officers' hand started to shake harder. "Yes, I will if you come closer. Just stay right there." His voice was filled with panic. Down the street another window was broken and he jerked his head toward the sound.

Ripper rushed the officer, butting him in the stomach with his head. When the man folded over in pain, Ripper hit him in the chin with his knee. The officer fell, unconscious. He grabbed the gun as the man fell, putting it in the back of his pants. He grinned at Joyce. "I told you he wouldn't shoot me."

Joyce rushed over, throwing her arms around his neck. "Ripper, you were terrific!" She kissed him.

Ripper kissed her back. His hormones were in overdrive from the fight, demanding release. He moved her backward, trying to find something to push her against. They reached the police car and he laid her down on the hood. Just as Ripper started to follow her down, the small part of him that was still Giles demanded that he stop. Confused by the conflicting messages, Ripper pulled away and looked down at the woman lying there. Nice bit of skirt; beautiful, sexy, and obviously willing, but not the one he wanted. Not his Slayer. He stepped back.

"We don't have time for this. I need to find my Slayer."

Joyce opened her eyes to see him walking quickly down the street. She gave a shriek of indignation, jumped off the hood of the car and started to follow him. As she passed the downed officer she saw the handcuffs that were fastened to his belt. On impulse she grabbed them. There was a vague thought of cuffing Ripper to her bed so he couldn't get away. All she had to do was get him to her house. She ran to catch up.

"Maybe Buffy's at home, why don't we go check?

"Not likely, she's got your car. She'll be driving all around town." He paused. "That's it, she's doing her patrol in the car. I should be looking for it instead of her." He spun on his heel and headed in another direction.

"Wait for me." Joyce hurried after him. 

Ripper stopped. "You said you wanted to go to the Bronze. There it is." He pointed across the street.

"If Buffy's using the car on her patrol, it won't take as long. Maybe she's in the Bronze. You should come in to see."

Ripper frowned. "I'm not going in there, besides she's not here, your car isn't in the parking lot. Get in there where you'll be safe." He continued down the street.

Joyce watched him for a few minutes, then stomped her foot in frustration before crossing the street to enter the Bronze. She stood on the edge of the crowd, looking over the possibilities. Most of them were so old. 

Wait a minute, what about him. Joyce strolled across the room, intent on her prey. She had always considered him a bully, but suddenly something about him appealed to her. Maybe it was the ears; they were kinda cute. She wondered if the old wives tales applied to ears the way they did to noses. She walked up to Snyder. "Hi, do you want to dance?"

 

Ripper continued down the street, headed west away from the Bronze, subconsciously noticing that there were no vampires prowling as they usually did at this time of night. The small part that was Giles was worried, but Ripper shrugged it off. He was only interested in finding his Buffy, his Slayer. It was time she knew how he felt. He grinned; his little Slayer was going to see what it felt like to have a living, breathing, man make love to her. Ripper turned the corner, heading for the first cemetery. 

 

Two blocks east of the Bronze a jeep zipped around the corner, it's tires protesting the speed the vehicle was traveling. The back door panel on the drivers' side was dented, and there were several scrapes in the paint. The jeep zoomed into the parking lot for the club, brakes squealing as it came to a stop. Buffy hopped quickly out of the drivers' side. Willow, rather pale, emerged from the passenger side and Oz exited from the back seat.

"You guys are my witnesses, right? He ran the stop sign and hit me, then refused to give me his insurance information. Promise you'll back me up with Mom or she'll never let me have the car again." Buffy was talking as she walked into the club, not noticing that Willow and Oz were still at the car. 

"I know I should tell the truth," Willow said as she leaned against Oz, "but I don't think I can ever ride in a car that she's driving again."

"That's okay, even if we tell the truth, I don't think Mrs. Summers will let her have the car again." Oz paused. "I still don't understand why she let her have it this time. Something's not right, and not just with her. Have you noticed how all the adults are acting?"

"Yeah, starting with Ms. Barton at school. And Giles, skipping a class." Willow shook her head. "Something is major wrong. We have to talk Buffy into going back to Giles'. We need to research this." Oz nodded and the two walked into the club.

Willow almost ran into Buffy, who had stopped just inside the door. They stared in shock. The Bronze, that ultra hip hangout for the teens and young adults of Sunnydale, had been over run with adults. Adults that were not acting very adult like. Four of the towns leading businessmen were on the stage belting out 'Louie Louie' while they stripped. Teachers from the school, Ms. Barton among them, were cavorting around the floor to some imaginary music. 

Willow gasped and blinked, not believing her eyes. "Buffy," she taped her friends' shoulder, "isn't that your Mom over there?" 

Buffy turned and looked in the direction Willow indicated. The shock was so great she almost fell down. Her mother was slow dancing with Principal Snyder. They were clutching each other tightly, and with the added height her mother had due to the boots she was wearing, Snyder's face was plastered between her breasts. 

Buffy stalked over to her mother. "Mom, what are you doing?" She grabbed Snyder and pulled him away. "How can you be dancing with him? He kicked me out of school!" She noticed the wrap her mom was wearing. "Where did you get this?"

Joyce preened, smoothing her hands down her body. "Isn't this cool? Ripper got it for me." 

Buffy stared at her. "Ripper? You mean Giles? Is he here?" She looked around frantically. 

"No, he didn't come in, he's out looking for you." Joyce gave an exaggerated sigh. "He looks so hot, but he was boring. All he wanted to do was listen to his records and talk about you. My Slayer this and my Slayer that. I wanted to have some fun so I made him bring me here." She giggled. "Although it was a little exciting when he broke the window to get this for me and the cop tried to arrest him."

Buffy froze and slowly turned back to her mother. "He broke a window and stole that? Giles? He was arrested?"

"No, he beat the cop up and we came here." Joyce gave a petulant shrug. "I don’t want to talk about him, I want to dance." Joyce turned around, looking for Snyder. He strolled over from the bar, waving two candy bars in front of him.

"Look, I was able to score some candy. Do you want any?"

Joyce grabbed one of the bars from his hand. "You are so cool. I just love this stuff." She ripped the wrapping off the bar and took a big bite. "Mmmmm. This chocolate is so groovy. Was there any more?" 

Snyder frowned. "Nah, that was all they had." His face brightened. "I know where the distribution center is. We could go there and get some."

Joyce beamed, threading her arm through his. "Let’s go." She turned back to Buffy. "If you’re here that means the car is here. Let me have the keys." She held out her hand.

"Mom, what is wrong with you? You don’t do things like this." Buffy backed away. "I am so not letting you have the car keys in your condition. You could get hurt."

Joyce stamped her foot. "I want to have some fun! You always get to do fun things, stay out late, slay demons, date vampires. Why should you be the only one to get to do the fun things? I want some more candy! Snydie is going to take me to the distribution center, so give me the keys. Go find some vampires to stake, or better yet, go find your Watcher."

Willow came up behind Buffy. "All of the adults are under some kind of spell. I can see it in their auras."

"It must be the candy. Everyone is eating it and they’re all acting like they are high." Buffy looked at Willow and Oz with concern. "Mom keeps calling Giles ‘Ripper’ and she said he beat up a policeman, so he must be effected too. We have to find him. Snyder said he knows where the distribution center for the candy is. If we go there maybe we can find out who's doing this, and why."

"That’s one option," Willow said. "I think we need to go to the library and research this. Maybe Giles is back to normal and is waiting for us there. We should go see."

Buffy thought about this for a moment. "It might be better if we divided our forces. Willow, you and Oz head for the library. Call Xander and Cordy and have them meet you there. See if you can find any kind of spells that use candy to control people. I’m going to go to this distribution center and see who’s in charge."

Willow, relieved that she didn’t have to get back into the car with Buffy, nodded quickly and turned to leave. As she and Oz were going out the door, Buffy could see that she was talking on her cell phone. Good, Buffy thought, the gang will be safe in the library researching the problem. Now I just need to find Giles. She turned back to look for her mother saw her and Snyder plastered together again. She shuddered. ‘Snydie’? How could her mom find Snyder attractive?

"Mom," she said sharply, "we don’t have time for that. We have to find out who is doing this to all the adults, and why." She shuddered again. "Besides, that is just wigging me out." Buffy grabbed her mother’s hand and yanked her toward the exit. Joyce held onto Snyder and he was pulled out the door as well. 

When they reached the jeep, Buffy waited for Joyce’s reaction, but she just climbed into the back seat with Snyder, giggling. Buffy made a face and got in the drivers' seat. She started the jeep and peeled out of the parking lot, tires squealing. 

 

Ripper was checking out the Desert View cemetery. This was the third one he had gone through, and the small part of him that was still Giles was growing more worried. No vampires. Where were they all? His pace quickened. He had to find Buffy.

He paused. He felt a zinging sensation up his spine. Vampires. They were close. For an instant he was distracted. Is this what Buffy’s ’spidy sense’ felt like? Why was he feeling it? He never had before.

His attention returned to the task at hand when four vampires rushed at him from the shadows behind a crypt. He grinned. Good, he had been looking for a fight. Ripper charged the nearest vampire.

 

Buffy, following Snyder’s directions to the distribution center, saw a disturbance in the Desert View cemetery as she was driving past. She stopped the jeep and turned to the couple in the back seat. She winced at the sight that met her eyes. Her Mom and Snyder were kissing, their hands roaming over each other.

"Mom!" she said sharply. When the two broke apart to look at her she handed her mother a large cross. "Stay here and shove this into the face of anyone who tries to get in. I’ve got to go stake some vamps." Her mother nodded and took the cross. As soon as Buffy left the jeep, Joyce dropped the cross on the seat and went back to kissing Snyder.

Buffy ran towards the fight, but stopped in astonishment when she saw how well the ‘victim’ was handling the vampires. He moved smoothly, his body a blur of motion. One by one the vampires were dusted. When the last vampire had been dispatched, the man turned to Buffy and she caught her breath. "Giles!" she exclaimed.

He ran over to her and picked her up, spinning her around. He laughed. "The name’s Ripper, luv. I knew I’d find you on patrol." Ripper put her down and started to lead her out of the cemetery. "Come on, Slayer, let’s go find some more vamps."

Buffy dug in her heels. "Giles, we need to go this way, my Mom’s waiting in the jeep. We’re on our way to where the candy is being made."

Ripper’s eyes lit up. "Cool! I could really go for some more of that candy, it was good." He changed directions and headed for the jeep. 

Buffy led the way back to the jeep, but when she started to open the driver's door Ripper pulled the keys from her hand.

"You may be the best Slayer that ever lived, but I'm not letting you drive any vehicle that I'm in."

Buffy frowned, started to protest, then ran what he had said back through her mind. "You really think I'm the best Slayer ever?"

"Of course," he smiled possessively, "none of the others come close to you, you're MY Slayer."

Buffy blinked; the tone of his voice and the expression in his eyes made her feel strange. Hot.

No. That was ridiculous. She couldn't be getting turned on by Giles.

Buffy walked around the jeep and got in the passenger side. Ripper smiled at her again, a strange smile that was equal parts mischievous little boy and predatory male. She gulped and looked away. Ripper started the jeep and roared off down the road. Buffy glanced into the back seat to ask Snyder to repeat the directions to the distribution center. She gasped. Snyder and her Mom were lying on the backseat, moving in a very suggestive manner. "Mom! Stop that, it's disgusting!" 

Ripper looked in the rear view mirror. "Blimey, Joyce, I thought you had better taste than that."

Joyce pushed Snyder off and sat up, straightening her blouse and hair. "You're just jealous because I'm with him instead of you."

"Oh, please, I'm the one who walked away." Ripper turned his gaze to Snyder. "Alright mate, where do we find the candy?" Snyder started to answer, but Ripper cut him off. "And for God's sake, wipe that lipstick off your mouth. It makes you look like a ponce."

Snyder didn't know what a ponce was, but from the other man's tone it wasn't good. He wiped his mouth with his shirtsleeve. Looking out the window he said, "Turn left at the light, go three blocks, turn left again and the street ends at the warehouse."

"Okay," Ripper said, sending the jeep into a screeching turn at the light. Buffy grabbed the dash to keep her balance and had a flashback of Willow doing the same thing while she was driving.

She owed Willow a serious apology. 

A few moments later was another hair-raising turn soon followed by the squealing of brakes as Ripper stopped behind a group of people crowded around the warehouse loading dock. Two vampires, in full game face, were standing on the dock but no one was paying any attention to them. The crowd was only interested in the candy bars the vamps were throwing to them.

"Oh, candy!" Joyce exclaimed. She and Snyder scrambled out the back door and headed for the crowd.

"Mom, no," Buffy started, but Joyce ignored her. She turned to the man still sitting in the driver's seat. "Giles, help me stop them. The candy has been cursed and they are under a spell."

Ripper reached over and grabbed the back of her head. He held her still as he pressed a hard kiss to her lips. He pulled back. "There's no Giles here, I'm Ripper, luv, and anything you want, just ask. I'm your Watcher, so I'm yours to command." He kissed her again, his tongue flicking out to lick her lips, coaxing them to open. When they didn't, he gave her lower lip a gentle bite and drew back, smiling smugly at her dazed expression.

Buffy blinked rapidly and nervously licked her suddenly dry lips. It didn't help. She could taste the beer that Giles had been drinking. She swiped her tongue over her lower lip again, watching his eyes heat as they followed her action.

No, she reminder herself, not Giles, Ripper. He had been effected as well. One good thing, he did seem to be willing to listen and help her.

"Gi—Ripper," she began, "there has to be a reason why someone would do this. We have to get into that warehouse."

"No problem." Ripper hopped out of the jeep and purposefully strode to the dock. Buffy rushed after him and arrived in time to hear him say something in Latin as he waved his hand. A flash of bright light flooded the dock area. The vampires cried out, covering their faces. Ripper threw two stakes. Both vampires exploded into dust. Buffy stared. Giles, using magic so casually? 

Since everyone else had closed their eyes when the light flashed, none had seen what had happened to the vamps. Not that they cared about anything other than the fact that no one was passing out any more candy. The crowd started fighting each other for the candy bars that were still available. 

Buffy grabbed Joyce. "Mom, you need to come with me, it's not safe out here." She headed for the steps leading into the warehouse. Since Snyder was holding Joyce's other hand, he came along too.

Ripper vaulted onto the dock, ran over and kicked the door open. He hurried into the warehouse ahead of Buffy. 

Rushing into the warehouse, Buffy had to stop abruptly to keep from running into Ripper. He stared at a man talking on the telephone on the far side of the warehouse. Ripper growled. Hearing the sound, the man turned. 

With a panicked look the man said, "You had better hurry" and hung up the phone. He smiled weakly. "Ripper, old friend, it's good to see you again."

"Ethan Rayne," Buffy said in disgust. "Magic being used to control people? I should have known you were involved in this. What's the deal?"

Ethan gave a nervous laugh. "You know me, any chance to serve chaos." He spun around and ran for the back of the warehouse. Passing stacks of boxes, he shoved them over to block the path of those chasing him.

Buffy ran after him, but as she started to detour around the fallen boxes, they slid out of her way, giving her a clear path. Magic. Giles, no, Ripper was using magic again. Rounding a corner, she saw that Ethan had disappeared. Moving quietly, she closed her eyes, extending her senses to listen for any sound that betrayed his presence.

Ripper ran up behind her, opening his mouth to speak, then closing it when he saw what she was doing. Responding to instinct, he placed a hand on her shoulder. Magic flowed from his body to hers, and she could feel Ethan's aura. Buffy opened her eyes and looked at Ripper. His eyes were glowing, and unknown to her, hers were as well. They grinned at each other, identical, feral, grins. Buffy pulled away, walking straight to the box where Ethan was hiding. She punched a hole in the box, and pulled him out.

"Look what we have here, the prize inside the crackerjack box."

"Looks more like a gag gift to me," Ripper smirked. 

Buffy tilted her head, considering. "No, I think it's a decoder ring. You know, the one that tells you the enemy's secrets." She gave Ethan a chilling smile. "That's what you are, aren‘t you? You're a decoder ring, and you're going to tell us everything we want to know." 

Ethan gave a nervous little laugh. "I have no idea what you're talking about. My car broke down near here and I was using the phone to call for assistance. It was just an accident that you found me….." His voice trailed off as he was lifted into the air.

"Oh, I'll believe that, 'old friend'," Ripper said. He circled around the dangling man. "You never expected anyone to figure out that you were behind all this." He grinned wickedly. "You didn't count on my Slayer."

Ethan floated gently to the floor. "Now, Ripper, you know it's no good using magic against me. Anything you can do, I can do."

"Anything? I think not." Ripper punched Ethan in the face, knocking him down. "You always depend on your magic to protect you, but it can't protect you against me. You were never any good at anything physical, you always counted on me for that."

"Guys, save the testosterone for later. I need to know what the sitch is. Why is the spell aimed only at the adults? Just what are you planning to do, Ethan?" Buffy grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him to his feet.

"I don't know what's going on, I swear. This isn't my party."

Buffy exchanged disbelieving looks with Ripper, then backhanded Ethan. The force of the blow sent him reeling back into the boxes, and he slid to the floor, dazed. She pulled him to his feet. "Let's try this again, shall we? What are you planning, Ethan?"

"I'm not running this show." He flinched back as Ripper started to swing at him. "I'm just a sub-contractor; the person you need to talk to is a vampire named Trick. He hired me to cause a distraction."

"Trick." Buffy frowned. "Never heard of him." She turned to Ripper who shook his head. "What's his deal?"

"Apparently there is a demon named Lurconis that the mayor wants on his side until his ascension. Trick is arraigning the tribute, and he said that all the adults had to be incapacitated to keep them from interfering. It had to be done in a manner that would make the adults blame themselves when they found out what had happened. All the other vampires have orders to stay away from the humans. In the confusion they would be easy pickings, but it would have drawn your attention. Trick was hoping that you would be distracted by the adults' behavior, especially your Mother and Ripper. That's all I know." 

Ripper knocked him down. 

"I'm telling you the truth," Ethan said, in an aggrieved voice, as he lay on the floor rubbing his jaw.

Ripper smiled at him. "You probably are, but I'm sure you deserved it for something." 

Buffy shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I need to call Willow. The gang is at the library researching this." She headed back towards the front of the warehouse.

Ripper levitated Ethan and started after Buffy, pushing Ethan's floating body ahead of him.

Ethan allowed himself to be moved without interference. As he had said earlier, he was a match for Ripper in the use of basic Magiks, but the casual way Ripper was using them now was disturbing. Even in their wildest times, Ripper had been hesitant to use magic outside of their apartment, preferring to work his castings in strictly controlled conditions. How, exactly, had the spell he had put on the candy effected Ripper?

Turning the corner back into the main warehouse area, Buffy groaned. Her Mom and Snyder were all over each other again. "When is this going to end?" she asked rhetorically. 

She got an answer. Ethan chuckled. "About 10 hours from now."

"How do you know that?"

"The spell is set to last for 12 hours after the last ingestion of the candy, but the effects reverse slowly, just like they started. So people will be close to normal 10 hours later. Unless they go to sleep, then the effects will be gone when they wake up. From the wrappers on the floor, it looks like they just ate another bar."

"Gi-Ripper, when did you last eat one?" Buffy asked him anxiously.

He cocked his head to one side, considering. "A bit before we left my flat, hour and a half to 2 hours ago."

"Great, 8 hours before I get my Watcher back. I swear Ethan, if anybody dies because of this, I will kill you."

Ripper frowned. "What do you mean 8 hours before you get your Watcher back? I’m your Watcher, and I’m right here." He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "And you will not kill Ethan." 

Ethan gave a sigh of relief then tensed again as Ripper continued.

"You’re the Slayer. You kill demons, not humans, no matter how evil they are. I’ll kill him."

Buffy looked at him in shock. She shook her head. "I’ve got to call Willow and tell her about the demon. Maybe the gang can give us a clue as to what the tribute is supposed to be." Buffy walked over to the telephone on the desk. As she began punching in the numbers, her attention was caught by her mother and Snyder. "Mom, please, you’re going to turn me off sex for life!" Her comments didn’t stop them and she shuddered, turning so she couldn’t see them.

Ripper walked over to his Slayer, standing close to her, his hand on her shoulder as she talked to Willow on the phone. Behind them, Ethan floated gently to the ground. He looked around, spotting a crowbar on a nearby table. Moving quietly, he approached the two, raising the weapon. He decided to take out the Slayer first; in a physical fight he would have a better chance against Ripper. He was two steps away when, moving almost too fast to see, Ripper pulled the gun from the back of his pants, spun around and pointed it directly at Ethan’s face.

"I think you had better put that down," Ripper growled. He glared at Ethan, his eyes cold.

Ethan backed up a couple of steps, bent over and placed the crowbar on the floor. He straightened slowly, placing his hands in the air. "Easy, Ripper. I was just trying to buy some time to get away. I wasn’t going to hurt her." Ripper’s eyes grew murderous and Ethan became very afraid.

"She’s a Slayer, not bloody Supergirl. If you had hit her head with that you could have killed her. And the last time you were here you almost got her killed by putting that bloody tattoo on her." Ripper contemplated Ethan for a moment, then cocked the gun. "Give me one reason why I shouldn’t blow your bleeding head off." 

A hand pushed Ripper’s arm down, pointing the gun at the floor. "I can give you two. He’s not worth going to jail for, and we don’t have the time. Willow said that the tribute for Lurconis is newborn babies. We need to get to the hospital. We might still have a chance to stop this."

Ripper shook his head. "Don’t get your hopes up, Luv. The candy has been in effect for hours, plenty of time for them to have already taken the babies."

"Willow also said that the ritual stipulated that the tribute be given at midnight. I don’t think vamps could be around babies for very long without eating them, and that would kind of defeat the purpose of why they were taking them."

"Let’s go." Ripper started towards the door.

"What are we going to do with Skippy here? As soon as we leave he’ll probably call the others to warn them."

"We could kill him and dump the body. No one would know who did it, and quite frankly, no one would care."

Buffy glared at Ripper. "I’m not letting you kill him, so think of something else." Ripper glared back at her. They were startled by Snyder’s voice.

"Can’t we just tie him up, or something? If we’re going to save the babies, we should be going." Both Buffy and Ripper looked around, astonished. Joyce and Snyder were standing there and it appeared, at least for the moment, that they could focus on something other than each other.

"Does anybody know if there’s any rope around here?" Buffy asked as she did a quick scan of the room.

"How about these?" Joyce asked, pulling a pair of handcuffs out of her purse.

Ripper grinned. "Very kinky, Joyce. I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you." 

Joyce smirked at him. "See what you missed out on? We could have had a lot of fun."

"Mom!" Buffy exclaimed, shocked. "Where did you get……No, I don’t want to know. Just give them here." She took the handcuffs, walked over to Ethan, and spinning him around fastened his hands behind his back. She frowned. "How are these going to keep him from calling the others? He’ll probably magic them off as soon as we leave."

Ripper walked over and calmly smacked Ethan in the back of the head with the gun. Ethan’s body crumbled to the floor. "He can’t do anything until he wakes up, and that won't be any time soon. Let’s go."

 

Buffy stood looking at the empty cribs in the hospital nursery. Joyce was softly weeping and Snyder had his arm around her, patting her shoulder, making comforting sounds. Ripper walked up behind Buffy, placing his hand on her shoulder. Buffy felt the surge of power that was becoming familiar every time he touched her.

"None of the staff remember seeing anything, but one of them says that a person was handing out free candy bars just after supper. That was around seven, according to the charts. It could have happened any time after that."

"I don’t think so, it took a couple of hours for the candy to start effecting you guys." Buffy placed her hand in one of the cribs. "The blankets are still warm. It hasn’t been that long since they were here." She slammed her hand down, breaking the crib. "So close!"

"Easy, Slayer, we’ll find them. You said the ritual was to be at midnight, it’s just 11 o’clock now. We still have time."

"How? We can’t search all of Sunnydale in one hour. We need more information, something to narrow down the search area. I’ll call Willow again, maybe they’ve found something else."

Ripper closed his eyes, frowning in concentration. "Lurconis means glutton. I think I remember something from one of my books, a passage. ‘Lurconis dwells beneath the city, filth to filth.’ Beneath the city would be tunnels or catacombs, and the filth to filth would seem to indicate the sewers. I think we need to look in the sewers, someplace near deeper underground tunnels."

Buffy looked at him in amazement. He was reasoning like Giles, but he still sounded and acted like Ripper. And there was the surge of power she felt every time he touched her. The candy was effecting him in different ways than it was everyone else in town. He seemed to be able to focus on the situation better than her Mom and Snyder. Was it because he had magical abilities of his own? Or maybe, just maybe, it was that every time he touched her the power transfer bled off some of the effects of the candy.

"Right, I’ll call Willow and see if she can hack into the city sewer specs. While they are doing that, I think we should take Mom home where she’ll be safe." Ripper nodded his agreement.

Snyder spoke up. "Here, take my cell phone. That way you can start looking while your friends are on the computer. I’ll make sure Joyce gets home safely."

Joyce wiped tears from her eyes. "Yes, go find the babies. I’ll go home so you don’t have to worry about me." She and Snyder walked out of the nursery, arms around each other. Their heads were together and Buffy could hear whispering and giggling.

"Do you think it's safe to let them go alone?" Buffy asked Ripper.

He grinned. "Your Mum is a big girl, she knows what she's doing."

"No, she doesn’t." Buffy glared at him. "She's under the influence of the candy; you all are."

Ripper glared back. "Then you've got a choice, don't you? Keep your Mum from getting shagged or keep the babies from getting eaten. What's it gonna be, Slayer?"

Buffy sighed. "The babies, of course." She looked down the hall, seeing her mom and Snyder kissing in the elevator. The doors slid closed, blocking them from her sight. "Do you really think she'll be alright?"

Ripper bent and gave her a swift kiss. "She'll be fine, Luv." He took her hand and led her from the room.

 

45 minutes later they stopped to check the third of the possible locations that Willow had found for them. Buffy slid the sewer access cover to one side, listening carefully. She could hear voices below. "Someone's down there. This had better be it, we're out of time."

Ripper pulled her to her feet, encircling her with his arms. "Extend your senses. The voices you hear; is it people or vamps talking? Are the babies there? What can you feel?" he whispered in her ear.  
Buffy shuddered. The power enveloped her, cocooning her in Ripper's essence. It was an intoxicating feeling. For the first time she understood the attraction of magic. "The babies are there, all six of them. There are a dozen vamps. There is one human, talking to one of the vamps. Something else is nearby, something very powerful."

Ripper released her. "That must be Lurconis. Let's get down there."

Buffy finished pushing the cover out of the way and climbed down the access ladder. Ripper followed. As they moved towards the light and sounds, they heard a voice say, "I smell humans. Stop them, no one must interfere." Four vampires came at them through the sewer tunnel. 

Buffy and Ripper split apart, taking two each. They dusted them with almost ridiculous ease. Running through the sewer tunnel into the larger room, they saw a sight that made them pause. Five vampires stood between them and the rest of the room. Across the room a vampire stood next to the mayor, who turned and disappeared through another tunnel even as they watched. The two remaining vampires were moving the babies from a makeshift crib to an altar across a small moat. The moat was fed by a stream coming from a tunnel that accessed the sewers from the rear. A roaring, rumbling noise was coming from the tunnel.

Buffy looked at Ripper. "I'll take the vamps. You get the babies." He nodded. They charged the line. Ripper took out one vampire and kept moving, heading for the two that were handling the babies. Buffy dusted the first, and stayed stationary, daring the others to attack her. When they did, she dusted them easily. Obviously the mayor and his gang had felt that the city was in enough chaos that the Slayer wouldn't be able to interfere, because the vamps they had used as guards were not good fighters.

Buffy looked around, two vampires left: the one who had been talking to the mayor, and the one next to the altar, still holding one of the babies. Ripper dove into the moat, reaching for the baby in the vampires' arms. Buffy headed for the other; the one who must be the vampire called Trick.

Buffy was happy that Trick was a good fighter; she needed to get rid of some of the frustration from the events of the day. She had him down and was getting ready to stake him when there was a loud roaring sound mixed with screams. She jerked her head around. 

A large demon snake had emerged from the tunnel behind the altar. The screams were coming from the vampire wriggling in its mouth. Buffy was relieved to see that the baby the vampire had been holding was in Rippers' arms as he bent protectively over the other baby on the altar. Relief turned to horror as the demon swallowed the vampire and opened its mouth to grab Ripper. Trick took advantage of her distraction to kick her off and scamper away. Buffy sat, helplessly watching, as the demon's mouth closed around Ripper.

She blinked. Lurconis roared in frustration. There seemed to be an invisible barrier between Ripper and the demon. It tried, and failed, to grab him again. Ripper looked at her and she could see the strain on his face. "Buffy, hurry!"

Buffy looked around frantically. She noticed the gas pipes running across the roof of the tunnel. Jumping up, she broke one of the pipes, twisting it around towards one of the torches the vampires had brought to light the tunnel. When the gas fumes touched the flames it created a giant blowtorch. Buffy aimed it at the demon. The demon caught fire, and with a howl of pain and rage, it retreated. Buffy pushed the pipe into the tunnel, letting the flames create a barrier. She turned back to Ripper, who hadn't moved.

As she got close, she could see that his t-shirt had been burned away, and that his back was red and blistered. "Oh, God, Giles! What happened?"

"What the bloody hell do you think happened? You got me when you got Lurconis. Call Willow."

"Why do you want me to call Willow? Did the babies get burned too?"

He tried to straighten up, but hissed in pain and curled back over. "No, the babies are fine. I want you to call Willow because we are going to need help. Tell them to bring something we can use to lift the babies out, instead of trying to carry them out while climbing the ladder. Ropes, blankets, something like that. And tell them to hurry. The babies have been put under a sleep spell so they wouldn't cry or fuss. The longer it lasts, the more it's possible that it could damage them."

Buffy nodded, watching him in concern. "What about you? Do you want Willow to bring something for the burns?"

"No, just tell them to get here." He lowered his head, hiding his expression from her.

Buffy opened the cell phone and punched in the number for the library. "Will, it's me. Yeah, we found them, at the last location you gave me. I need you guys to come help us get them out of the sewers. Bring some blankets and ropes, or something like that, to lift them out, you know like those rescue baskets on helicopters. Giles says to hurry, that they are under a spell and we need to get them back to the hospital. We can't leave down here, but Mom's car is next to the sewer access, so you shouldn't have trouble finding us." She paused, listening, "Okay, see you soon."

"Giles," He turned his head to glare at her. She sighed. "Ripper, give me those two. I'll put them with the others." He handed her the baby that was in his arms, muttering a steady stream of words that she didn't understand under his breath. "What are you saying?"

"You bloody well don't need to know," he snapped. 

Buffy giggled.

"I'm so happy that my pain causes you amusement. Too bad Angelus didn't video tape my torture session, that would have given you plenty of laughs."

Buffy stared at him in shock. "Giles, I would never…it wasn't….I didn't mean…..I'm sorry." She turned away, blinking back tears. There was a long moment of silence, then behind her she heard splashing and more of what she assumed was cursing. Warm arms circled her waist and she was almost overwhelmed by the emotions sweeping over her. 

A husky voice whispered, "I'm sorry, Luv. Forgive me?" A gentle kiss was pressed into her neck just under her right ear. It was the last straw. Tears overflowed, running down her cheeks. A soft moan was breathed against her neck. "Oh, Luv, don't cry." She was turned and gathered into his arms. He pressed her face against his chest.

"I'm a right bastard, I am. I'm not worthy of your tears."

"No, I'm not worthy of you. You've gone through so much for me, because of me. I was just laughing because you sounded like my Giles when he gets cranky." She put her arms around him, then backed away quickly when her accidental touch caused him to hiss in pain. She looked at him with tear filled eyes. "See, I'm doing it again. I’m hurting you."

Before he could answer, they heard a faint, "Guys, are you there?"

Buffy wiped the tears off her face and moved to the tunnel leading to the sewer access. "We're down here." A moment later Oz entered the room, followed by Willow. She turned back to lead them over to where the babies were laying in the makeshift crib. 

Ripper was leaning heavily against the crib, hunched over slightly. "Willow, come here." When she reached his side, he placed a hand against her forehead. There was a small burst of light and Willow stepped back, momentarily dazed. Oz actually growled, and rushed to her side.

"No, it's okay," Willow said. She took a deep breath and stepped around behind Ripper. She gasped, "Are you sure I can do this?"

"I wouldn't have given you the knowledge if I didn't think you could handle it."

Willow swallowed nervously, then placed her hand a couple of inches above the burns. She started chanting softly and her hand began to glow. She smiled and her voice grew stronger. After a few minutes she stopped and Ripper straightened, stretching the muscles of his back. "Ahh, much better. Thanks, pet. Now, let's see about getting these babies back where they belong."

"Why didn't you do that yourself?" Buffy asked. 

"Cause you can't heal yourself with magic. I don't know why, just that everyone I know who does magic says the same thing; you can heal others but not yourself. And it's not completely healed; I'll still need to put ointment on it. Now it's about the level of a bad sunburn instead of 3rd degree burns."

Buffy went behind him, looking at his back. She touched it gently and he shivered. "Sorry."

Ripper watched until Willow and Oz had left the area, then turned to her and said, "It didn't hurt, Luv." He gave her a look that was openly sexual. 

Buffy blushed. "We need to get the babies back to the hospital." She picked one up and went to the access tunnel. She heard Ripper chuckling behind her.

 

Xander had taken the words 'rescue basket' to heart and had rigged up a plastic laundry basket with rope. Lined with a couple of blankets it was a safe and efficient way of lifting the babies out of the sewer. The ride to the hospital was a little crowded; six babies, five teenagers and Ripper, but it was made without difficulties. With the hospital staff still under the influence of the candy, it was easy to sneak the babies back into the nursery. Ripper released the sleep spell and the gang spent some time heating bottles and feeding the hungry babies. It was after 2 in the morning before Xander, the last to be dropped off, was left at his door. Ripper headed the jeep towards his flat. 

When Buffy noticed the direction they were headed, she protested. "My house is back that way."

Ripper gave her a quick look. "Most likely Snyder is there. Do you really want to go home?"

Buffy groaned, putting her face in her hands. "Oh, no! Do you really think that they are……..? That is just so gross!"

"Well, you saw how they were acting with you right there. What was goin' to stop them when they were alone and near a bed?" He grinned at the muffled moan beside him. "Anyway, I need your help with my back. I can’t exactly put the burn ointment on myself."

Buffy sat upright. "I forgot. You should have said something while we were at the hospital."

‘It wasn’t bothering me then. Babies are safe, danger over, so now I notice the pain." At Buffy’s indrawn breath he continued, "Not all that bad, but enough to feel. Get the ointment on it and I’ll be fine."

By now they were pulling up in front of Giles’ apartment building. Buffy jumped out of the jeep, striding quickly up to the door. When she tried to open it, she got a shock. She turned to Ripper, amazed. "It’s locked. You never lock your door."

"Of course I locked it, this is a bloody Hellmouth after all." Ripper waved off her comments. "I’m thirsty, why don’t you get us something to drink and I’ll go get the ointment." He continued down the hall to the bathroom.

Buffy stood staring after him for a few minutes then went to the kitchen. She filled the kettle and put it on the stove. She jumped when a shirt flew past her into the trash. Turning, she saw Ripper lounging against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed over his chest. Ripper without a shirt. Giles, without a shirt. When had Giles become so sexy? She blinked and gathered her thoughts. "I’ve got the water on for tea." 

"Don’t bother, just grab me a beer, will you, luv?" He turned and went back into the living room.

Beer? Giles wanted a beer? Buffy looked in the refrigerator and saw two beer bottles. In the two years she had know him, she had never seen beer in his apartment. Wine, yes, Scotch too, but never beer.

Ripper called back to the kitchen. "Grab the other one for yourself if you want it. Come on, luv, times wasting."

"Ripper, you do remember I’m only 17, right? I’m not old enough to drink."

"You kill vamps every night and save the world on a regular basis. You can have a beer if you want one." 

Buffy shook her head, grabbed one beer and a bottle of water, and then headed to the living room. Ripper had pulled the desk chair over near the coffee table and was straddling it. The tube of burn ointment was on the table. She handed him the beer. "Thanks, luv."

Buffy picked up the ointment and moved behind him to put it on his back. She drew her breath in, shocked. The torches that had lit the tunnel hadn’t given her a very good view before, but now she saw that his back was a mass of scars. "What happened?"

Ripper took a deep drink of his beer. "I’ve lived a hard life. A few are from my time with Ethan. The others are courtesy of Angelus." He shrugged, the muscles moving smoothly under the skin. "They don’t bother me any more." 

Buffy felt sick. In a strained voice she asked, "What did he do?"

"It doesn’t matter, it’s over. I survived."

Buffy went to stand in front of him. "It matters," she said fiercely. "I need to know what he did to you."

"You want to know?" Ripper looked at her, his eyes blazing. "Remember, you asked. He beat me with a baseball bat, breaking several of my ribs. He used a whip on me. He cut me with my own dagger. He put cigarettes and cigars out on my chest. He broke all the fingers in my left hand." Ripper grabbed her hand and placed it on the scar at the top of his left shoulder. "And when none of that broke me, he started to cut my arm off with a chainsaw. Spike stopped him; I’ve never understood why."

Buffy closed her eyes, swaying. "Because I made a deal with him."

"WHAT!"

"I made a deal with Spike. If he could get you away from Angelus and out of the mansion alive, I wouldn’t come after him or Drucilla."

"I don’t believe you. You made a deal with Spike? He could have killed you. I’m not worth your safety."

"Yes, you are! I had to get you out of there so I could go after Angelus. You had to be out of the line of fire, or I couldn’t concentrate on stopping him." Buffy started sobbing. "I had to know you were alive, that he didn’t have you. I’m the Slayer. I’m supposed to protect you, not the other way around."  
Ripper surged up off the chair, pulling her into his arms. She caressed the scars on his chest. "I’m sorry I couldn’t find a way to get you out of there sooner. I’m so sorry."

"No, Luv, no. I am your Watcher. It is my honor to serve you. My purpose in life is to guide you, protect you. I would gladly endure it again, as long as I knew you were safe." He pulled back, cupping her face in his hands. "My Slayer, my Buffy." He kissed her.

The now familiar feeling of power surged through her, intensifying the sensation of his mouth covering hers. His left hand moved to the back of her head, changing the angle, as his lips caressed hers, his tongue pressing to gain access. She moaned and opened her mouth. Ripper growled, his arms tightening around her as his tongue swept into her mouth. He lifted her off her feet and moved to the couch. 

Buffy was dazed, overwhelmed by the taste of him. Beer and magic. Was it possible to taste magic? Somehow she could; his mouth had a tang that was composed of wildness and power. And his hands. His hands should be declared illegal, the way they made her feel. She felt overwhelmed by the warmth of his body pressing her into the couch.

Buffy pulled her mouth away, trying to concentrate. Pressing her into the couch? She opened her eyes, seeing the ceiling of Giles’ apartment and the top of his head. His mouth was moving down her chest. Her bare chest. When had she lost her top? He pressed an open-mouthed kiss between her breasts, then lifted his head. 

Ripper looked down at the most beautiful sight he had even seen. His Slayer, her body flushed with passion open to his gaze. He lifted his eyes to hers. The look in his eyes caught her breath. Passion, desire, but most of all, love. Angel, for all his declarations, had never looked at her with such devotion. Ripper smiled, his voice a contented purr, "Mine." He lowered his weight back onto her, and took her mouth in another mind melting kiss.

Buffy was drowning in sensations. His kiss, his hands, the feel of his chest hair against her bare breasts, but most of all, the heat. His body was so hot; it almost burned her to touch him. And his heart. She could feel it pounding against her, could feel when he drew breath. How could she have ever thought that Angel would be the only man to make her feel like this? In fact, Angel hadn’t made her feel even a fraction of what Giles did.

Giles.

Oh, God. She had to stop this. Giles would hate himself tomorrow if things went any further.

Buffy pulled her mouth away again, gasping for air. Ripper chuckled as he kissed down her neck. Buffy frowned. She grabbed his head and lifted. "Why aren't you out of breath?"

Ripper's eyes gleamed with mischief. "If we weren't meant to breathe while kissing, we wouldn't have a nose." He bent back down and nibbled on her neck. He found a spot that no one else had before and she shuddered. He chuckled again and murmured; "When I first started reading the Watchers' diaries I found it amazing to learn that Slayers throughout history have always had sensitive necks. More than a few Watchers have written about how they could get their Slayers to climax from just biting their necks."

Buffy pushed him away again. "What?"

"Why do you think I've never let you read the Watcher diaries? Especially the older ones. A hundred years ago it was common for the Watcher and his Slayer to be married, to be lovers. Some of the details are pretty explicit. You don't know how many dreams I had of you as my wife." His eyes glowed hotly into hers. "Mine." He kissed her again, his body moving suggestively against her. 

Buffy was in shock. She would have never seen this coming. Giles wanted her; desired her? The only part the candy was playing in this was that as Ripper he was more honest, more open about his feelings. Oh, God, he was biting that spot again. Her body was responding automatically to his, her legs parting to accept the hips thrusting against her. The feel of his fingers unfastening her slacks brought her back to her senses.

She had to stop this, at least for now. She needed time to think about what had been happening, the things he had said, and Giles needed to be in control. This couldn't happen while he was Ripper; it would be tainted, spoiled. She grabbed his hand.

"Wait. We need to slow this down a little."

Ripper continued nibbling her neck. "I can do slow. Slow can be a lot of fun."

"No, I mean we need to stop. This is too sudden. I need to think about this." 

Ripper looked at her, puzzled. "I want you, you want me. What's to think about?"

"You just said it yourself. You've thought about this, about us, before, but I haven't. I need some time."

For a long moment Ripper continued to lay on her, staring into her eyes, not moving. Buffy was afraid that she was going to need to use her Slayer strength against him. Suddenly he relaxed, leaning down to give her a quick peck on the end of her nose before pulling away to sit on the edge of the couch. His eyes swept over her bare torso and he smiled. "Sorry, Luv, I'm afraid I ruined your top. I'll go get you a shirt of mine to wear."

As he climbed the stairs to the loft, Buffy sat up, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Almost before she could gather her thoughts, he was back, handing her a shirt. Not the t-shirt she had expected, but one of his white dress shirts. Buffy gingerly took it in one hand and turned her back to put it on. She felt his hands on her shoulders an instant before he turned her around to face him. He took the shirt from her.

"Your body is beautiful. You should never be embarrassed about me seeing it." He calmly uncrossed her arms, putting them in the sleeves of the shirt. He smiled gently at her as he buttoned it. Reaching the top button, he tugged on the collar, pulling her to him for a quick kiss. "There, you're all covered up, feel better?"

Buffy blushed, ducking her head. "I need to go home." She started rolling up the sleeves of the shirt.

"Please stay." The request was quiet, almost inaudible. Buffy looked at him and almost gasped. The way he was standing, hands in pockets, shoulders hunched, head down, it was as if Giles were standing there. Maybe the candy was wearing off faster than Ethan thought. He looked up.

"You can take the bed, I'll stay down here on the couch. We can talk after we've had a little sleep."

"I'll stay on one condition; you take the bed, I'll take the couch."

He grinned. "Deal." He gave her another quick kiss and headed to the loft. Halfway up the stairs he stopped, not turning to look at her. "You promise, you won't leave until we talk?"

"I promise. Wait a minute, I didn't get the burn ointment on your back."

Ripper looked at her, grinning widely. "Trust me, Luv, my back isn't bothering me now. I'll be fine. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Buffy locked the door, turned off the lights, and then sat back down on the couch. She could hear Giles rustling around in the loft, then the sound of him settling in the bed. A few minutes later her Slayer hearing heard his breathing deepen and even out. He was asleep. 

Part of her wanted to go home and check on her Mom. Was Snyder really there? What would she say to them if he was and they were still awake doing….things? Eieww. Just the thought made her feel nauseous. But she couldn't leave, she had promised. And she had a lot to think about. 

Giles loved her, desired her. It was almost too much to take in. He had never given her the slightest hint. Or had he? Had there been clues, but she had just been too wrapped up in Angel to see? Her mind whirled, flitting from one memory to another, but not settling on any one long enough for her to examine it. She needed to get some sleep.

Instead of lying down, Buffy found herself climbing the stairs to the loft. It was like she was being controlled by someone else, or like she was watching it happen to someone else. She entered the bedroom and stood for a long time beside the bed, watching him sleep. Still in the trance-like state, she took off her slacks, carefully lifted the covers, and eased into the bed beside him. Buffy lay, watching and thinking, until the sound of his breathing lulled her to sleep


	2. The Morning After

Buffy woke from the most marvelous dream to find that it was real. A warm male body was wrapped around hers and velvet soft lips were nuzzling the nape of her neck. A large hand slowly slid up her thigh, pushing the shirt she was wearing with it. The hand paused briefly on her stomach, pressing her gently back against a wonderful heat, then slid on up and cupped her breast. She moaned in pleasure, tilting her head to give the lips better access.

Her moan woke the other sleeper in the bed. The body behind her stiffened, the hand freezing. She heard Giles mutter a word that she had never expected to hear him say. In fact, before meeting Ripper she would have bet that Giles didn't even know that word. He pulled away, and she turned her head to see him sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. Those words that Ripper had been saying in the sewer last night were now coming from Giles. Buffy couldn't help but grin. "Potty mouth," she said.

Giles turned so fast that he almost fell off the bed. Instead of the angry young woman that he expected to see, Buffy was lying contentedly on his bed, in one of his shirts, giggling at him. He pinched the inside of his thigh. Ouch, that hurt, so he must be awake. He blinked, trying to get his mind around the situation. 

Buffy, seeing the confusion in his eyes, started laughing harder. "Oh, if you could see your face. My poor Giles, don't you remember what happened yesterday?"

He blushed, turning away from her, "All too clearly."

Buffy sat up behind him and ran a teasing finger down his back. "That's so cute. I've never seen a person's back blush before." Her finger moved to gently caress the scar on his left shoulder. "Oh, Giles."

He stood up jerkily. "I'm sorry, I know the scars are ugly. I'll put on a shirt." He moved over to his dresser.

Moving swiftly, Buffy got off the bed and put her arms around him, stilling his hands on the drawer. She rested her forehead against the middle of his back, trying to find the right words. She placed a kiss on his back, and turned him around. Cupping his face in her hands she smiled and said, "Your body is beautiful. You should never be embarrassed about me seeing it." 

Giles closed his eyes, remembering when he…. Ripper…. he, had said those words to her the night before. Blinking away the sudden moisture, he bent and gave he a gentle kiss. "Thank you, Luv." Leaving the shirt in the drawer, he led her back to sit on the bed. "Buffy, what are we going to do?" He frowned suddenly. "And what were you doing in my bed? I remember you saying that you would sleep on the couch."

"I was thinking, and I decided I could do it better while I watched you sleep. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but the bed was just so warm and cozy, and it was so soothing listening to your heartbeat, that I couldn't help it." She stood. "As for what we're going to do, right now I'm going to get a change of clothes out of my gym bag and take a quick shower. Then while you shower, I'll start some breakfast."

Buffy started down the stairs and Giles listened in shock as she continued, "You know, we'll need a bigger place. One with two bathrooms, cause it takes me a while to get ready most mornings. And one of them had better be attached to the bedroom, cause this thing of going downstairs to go to the bathroom ain't gonna to cut it."

Giles went to the railing and looked down. "Buffy?"

She smiled up at him. "Showers, breakfast," she made a face, "and I have to go check on Mom. Then we talk, Watcher-mine. Get that gorgeous rear in gear." She walked into the bathroom, closing the door. He heard the shower start.

Giles leaned against the loft railing. What the hell just happened? Buffy was acting as if it were the most normal thing in the world to climb into bed with him. Was talking about THEM getting another apartment because THEY would need two bathrooms. This had to be a dream. He pinched himself again.

Damn, that hurt. And he could still hear the shower running. Not a dream then, but what? Maybe she was having some kind of delayed reaction to the candy. That had to be it. Buffy would never think of him as an attractive man if she were in her right mind. No, those were his fantasies. He groaned, backing to sit on the bed, burying his face in his hands again.

He had told her about the Watcher diaries, about his dreams. He had kissed her, bitten her neck. He remembered the warm softness of her body under his on the couch. Oh, dear lord, how was he going to face her? 

Two hands grabbed his wrists and pulled. Buffy was kneeling on the floor in front of him, clothes damp, water still beading on her skin, hair wrapped in a towel.

"I figured it would be hitting you about now. I'm not the one who was under the influence of anything yesterday, and I'm not under the influence of anything now. This is real, as real as it gets around here, and I’m not going to change my mind." She pulled him to his feet, gently shoving him towards his closet. "Clothes, shower, shave. I'll fix breakfast, as long as you don't mind scrambled eggs and toast. Then check on Mom. THEN talk." She gave him a little shake. "Okay?"

Giles drew a deep breath, smiling at her shyly. "Scrambled eggs and toast will be fine." He went into his closet, wondering what to wear. It was Saturday, no school, so no need for a suit, but part of him wanted the security of the tweed. He reached for a pair of dress slacks.

Buffy stuck her head in the closet. "Those jeans you were wearing yesterday made you look yummy. Got another pair?"

He jumped and glared at her. "No, that was my only pair."

"I foresee shopping trips in the future, but for now those gray slacks with that green Henley, the one that matches your eyes, will do." She retreated.

Giles stood blinking at his clothes. She thought he looked 'yummy' in blue jeans? She knew that he had a shirt that matched his eyes? He would have been willing to bet that she had never noticed what he wore, and he wasn't a betting man. This day was becoming more and more bizarre. 

 

Giles stood frowning at the damage on the side of the jeep. Buffy grimaced. "I know, Mom's gonna have a hissy. She'll probably never let me have the keys again, and it was so totally not my fault. Willow and Oz are my witnesses. Some guy ran a red light and hit me, then took off." 

"Speaking of keys, where are they?"

"You were driving. You probably put them in your jeans."

"No, I checked." Giles looked in the window and saw the keys dangling from the ignition. He banged his head against the window. "Bloody hell, I don't believe I did that. We're lucky it's still here."

Buffy giggled. "There's my cranky Watcher. I wondered how long it would take him to make an appearance."

Giles gritted his teeth. "Just get in the bloody car."

Buffy climbed in the jeep, still giggling. Giles looked over at her, planning to reprimand her for her levity, then caught the faint note of hysteria in her voice. He looked closer and saw the panic in her eyes. "Buffy, I'm sure your Mother is fine."

"What if Snyder is still there? Giles he saw things; heard things. You say you remember everything that happened. What if he remembers?"

"We'll handle it together. Watcher/Slayer. If he really does understand and accept, it could make things at school a lot easier."

"That's my Watcher, always the optimist. And what if he doesn’t accept, it could make things a lot worse."

"That's my Slayer, always the pessimist; that's why we make such a good team. We cancel each other out, cosmically speaking." 

Buffy beamed a smile at him. "I love you." At his shocked look she continued, "I always have, in a Watcher-y, Giles-y way. But I came to the conclusion around 4:30 this morning that I'm in love with you too. And if smoochies with Rupert Giles are even half as good as the ones with Ripper Giles, I say we head for Las Vegas the day after graduation."

Giles eyes flared with heat. "Buffy!" He lunged across the gearshift towards her.

She pressed her hand against his chest to stop him. "Easy there, Watcher-mine. Still 17. Jail bait. Until I'm 18 we need to be careful, no making out in cars. Especially not in broad daylight in front of your apartment building."

"Then you shouldn't say things like that." He settled back in his seat, giving her a smoldering look. "Just wait until we get back here for our talk. I'll show you smoochies."

Buffy felt her insides flutter. "Is that a threat?"

His smile was pure Ripper. "No, Luv, a promise."

A few minutes later they pulled up in front of Buffy’s house. She sat, staring at the front door. Giles got out, went around and opened her door. He took her hand. "It will be alright. Come on." They went up the walk, opened the front door and entered the house. Buffy could hear voices coming from the kitchen. She shuddered and pointed in that direction. As they came to the kitchen door, they paused, listening to the conversation.

"So Buffy is this, Slayer, and the librarian, Mr. Giles, is her Watcher? What exactly does that mean, and does stuff like last night happen very often?"

Giles pushed open the door. "It means that Buffy is the one Chosen by the Powers that Be to protect this world from evil. I have been honored to be picked to assist her in whatever why I can. And things similar to last night happen often enough to make life interesting."

"I, for one, could live with life being a little less interesting." Buffy said dryly.

"Me too." said Joyce. "When I found out about all of this, I couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. Although it did explain a lot that had happened."

Snyder frowned. "You said she was chosen. How?"

"We don't know. At any given time there are hundreds of Potentials around the world. The Council has never been able to predict which would be Called as the Slayer."

"The Council?"

Giles sighed. "Every explanation I give will lead you to ask another question. Allow me to try to tell everything from the beginning, and see if that makes things clearer."

"Oh, no," Buffy moaned, "he's going to give 'The Speech'."

Giles gave her a reproachful look. "A modified version."

"Right, it only takes two hours instead of four."

"And every interruption will make it take longer."

Snyder looked at Joyce. "Are they like this all the time?"

"Usually."

Giles cleared his voice, sending everyone his best teacher's glare. "In the beginning, this planet was not the paradise that is commonly believed. It was inhabited by demons. At some time, lost in pre-history, mankind developed and started a war with the demons for control of the world. At some point during this war, a girl was gifted by the Powers. She became stronger, faster, with enhanced senses, better able to fight the demons.

"Whether being gifted changed her, or she was already mutated to some degree that allowed her body to accept the powers, there is no way to know. Current council scientists have discovered that all Potentials have an extra base pair in their DNA. This is what no doubt allows them to be stronger and faster, even without Slayer power. It is believed that this difference in the DNA is what has allowed Council seers to find Potentials when they are born. A marker, so to speak, that magic can detect."

"Hey," Buffy protested, "I haven't heard this part before."

"I never thought you would be interested." When Buffy started to speak, he silenced her with a look. "Save your questions for the end. If I may continue?" Everyone nodded.

"Again, it's not recorded when the existence of the Slayer first became known to others. The Council originally was a group of sorcerers who had banded together to fight demons. When they were made aware of a being with a magical aura who was better at fighting the demons than the average person, they started observing her. They discovered that when she was killed, the magic transferred to another. Over time a working relationship was established. Once a Slayer was found, a Council member would offer to form a partnership. If she accepted, a magical bond was created to link the two, and usually when the Slayer was killed, he died as well."

Buffy drew in her breath sharply, but Giles waved her off. "Later."

"The Council was puzzled by how the Slayer was chosen. It clearly wasn't passed down through family lines since Slayers never became pregnant. They started to routinely check girls passed the age of puberty for this magical aura. They called these girls Potentials. When a Potential was found, a man was assigned to live near her family to protect her and teach her basic fighting skills. This was the beginning of the Watchers. Since girls were routinely married as soon as they could produce a child, most Watchers arranged to marry their Potentials."

"Another thing that was noticed was that no girl over the age of 20 was ever Called. The Watcher was therefore instructed to refrain from any kind of intimate behavior with his Potential until it was certain that she would not be Called. As more Potentials were discovered, it was hoped that the daughters of the ones who had not been Called would carry the same magical aura, thereby creating bloodlines of possible Slayers. To the dismay of the Council, these girls usually gave birth to males, and the few females who were born did not possess the aura.

"This is how the system worked, for many generations. Eventually, it was decided to start checking the girls at a younger age, and it was discovered that the aura was there from birth. More Watchers were recruited, most to strictly gather and compile information on demons and magic. It also became common practice to assign two Watchers, posing as father and son, to each Potential. One would be an older man who would guard the girl during her childhood. This older Watcher would keep detailed records of her life and events in the village. This was the beginning of the diaries. The other would be a younger man, usually in his teens, a Watcher in training who would marry the girl at the appropriate time." 

"That sounds so cold-blooded. What if the girl wanted to marry someone else?" Joyce asked.

"Joyce, until the mid 1800’s arranged marriages were common everywhere in the world, and the average age difference between the couple was 12 years. The older Watcher would usually approach the girls’ family when she was five or six and arrange the future marriage to his ‘son’. The girls would have been raised with the knowledge that they would marry this young man. Love was never supposed to enter into the equation. This is still the practice in a few cultures today. In fact, when the Council seers today spot a Potential in one of those countries, they simply send a representative to buy the infant. The girl is then raised at a Council compound."

"Giles, that’s terrible. How can you condone something like that?" Buffy asked, outraged.

"I never said I condoned the practice, although the girls are probably living better lives than if they had been left with their parents. Even today, there are places where baby girls are killed because they are considered of no value." Giles looked at Buffy, his eyes filled with pain.

Giles turned away from her, pacing to the far side of the kitchen. "We're getting off the subject. As I said before, this was the procedure the Council followed until a little over a hundred years ago. Many of the records of that time are missing, but from what I was able to piece together, the son of the head of the Council was Watcher for the active Slayer. Due to the common practice of bonding, when she was killed, he died as well. It was shortly after that occurrence that the method of training the Potentials was changed.

"Before, she had continued to live with her family until her marriage to her Watcher. Her family knew about her possible Calling, and actively participated in her early training. The new Council rules changed that. It was decided that allowing her to remain close to her family was a distraction, that if she became the Slayer it would make her vulnerable to the enemy. Marriage was forbidden, any intimate contact of any kind was forbidden." Giles blushed slightly.

"Earlier I mentioned that in the beginning, when it was noticed that Potentials over the age of 20 were never Called, I said that their Watchers were instructed to avoid intimate contact with the girls until they reached that age. Human nature being what it is, that rule wasn't followed very well, especially since most Watchers were relatively close to their Potentials age. Many of the older diaries have quite explicit details of their personal lives." Giles looked out the window, avoiding the other's gaze.

"Most who broke the prohibition did so by following the letter of the rule, rather than the intent. Intimate contact was taken to mean penetration of the female by the male. Anything else was seen as permissible." He cleared his throat, his face red. "They were a very randy lot who were quite inventive." Giles glanced at Joyce. "This is the main reason I never let Buffy or the others read any of the Watcher diaries." 

"It was during this time of change that the first women Watchers were recruited. While that particular group of men was in charge of the Council, the only Watchers put in charge of Potentials were women or men over the age of 50. All methods of acquiring and training Potentials emphasized isolating the girls. This is when 'The Speech' was invented. One girl in all the world, etc. etc."

"It was also during this time that the life expectancy of the Slayer began to fall. Very few girls were reaching the age of 20, because very few girls were surviving more than six months after they were Called. The practice of Watcher/Slayer bonding was also halted. It was considered a waste of valuable resources for the Watcher to die with their Slayer. The emphasis switched from the Slayer to the Watchers. The Council decreed that they were the most important part of the fight against evil in this world, and that the Slayers were only a tool to be used."

"I'd show them tool, bunch of stupid old pricks." Buffy growled.

"Buffy, watch your language." Joyce scolded. "Although I agree with you, you shouldn't say such things."

"Sorry, Mom."

Giles smiled faintly. "I remember hearing arguments between my Grandmother and my Father about that. Gran felt that the Slayer was more important, and Father followed the Council party line. After Father was given a Potential he was seldom at home and Gran did her best to impress upon me that my first duty would be to my Slayer and no one else, especially not the Council. I promised her that if I were given a Potential I would follow her teachings, although after my little rebellion I never expected to be given a chance to put them into practice."

Buffy giggled. "No wonder you were so eager that first day. I was your science experiment." 

"No, no, it wasn't like that," Giles started to protest, then looked at her. "Buffy." He said reproachfully.

"Okay, I understand about the Council and about Watchers, and some of the stuff you said about Slayers, but if you are Buffy's Watcher why were you only assigned to her two years ago." Snyder looked between the two. "I read both of your files, you were here two months before Buffy transferred here."

Giles looked at Buffy, then down at the floor. Buffy looked out the window. "My first Watcher, Merrick, was killed protecting me. A vampire named Lothos and a group of his followers came after me and were attacking kids at the prom. The only way I could kill most of them was to set fire to the gym and block the doors." She hunched her shoulders. "Everyone was thanking me for saving them, until the police and firemen got there. Then I became this crazy girl who set the gym on fire to make trouble for my ex-boy friend. I was arrested and put under psychiatric observation when I tried to tell them the truth. Merrick was dead, so he couldn't tell them and when I called the phone number he had given me if I needed help, they said they couldn't get involved."

"What?" Joyce and Giles both exclaimed. Giles got in first. "Buffy, you called the Council and they refused to help you? Who did you talk to?" Giles started pacing the kitchen, agitated. "You were the Slayer, how dare they refuse to help you." He turned to Buffy, taking her by the shoulders. "I want to know who the bloody pillock was that refused to help you."

"I don't know, he didn’t tell me his name."

Giles pulled her to him for a hug. "I'm sorry you had to face that alone." He drew away, frowning. "Now I understand that I was lied to as well. When I was informed that Merrick was dead and I was to be your new Watcher I was also told that your parents had taken you away on holiday. They said that arraignments had been made to bring you to guard the Hellmouth, but that due to certain circumstances your family couldn't move to Sunnydale until after the beginning of the school year. I was told that my cover for being with you was as the school librarian and I was to be there at the start of school."

"That explains that," Snyder said, "but something I don't understand is why is Buffy living with her Mother. Didn't this Merrick take her away for training when she was little? You did say that is Council policy, right?"

"They missed me." Buffy said. Snyder looked puzzled,

Giles gave her an exasperated look. "Somehow, the Council seers failed to locate Buffy. Not once, but every time they cast the locator spell for 15 years it failed to spot her aura. This is the cause of a great deal of concern. If it happened with her, how many other girls have been missed."

‘Lucky them," Buffy murmured. 

"While I agree that any girl who is not removed from the love and support of her family is fortunate, do you really wish what happened to you on another girl?" Giles remarked.

"No and yes." Buffy smiles at him. He gave her a puzzled look. "No, I don’t want it to happen to anyone else, but if it did, yes, I hope they would get Watchers like you and Merrick."

Giles blushed slightly and lowered his head, "Thank you, Buffy."

"So let me get this straight. The Council didn’t know about you being a Potential until you were 15 years old. That’s when they sent this guy, Merrick, to be your Watcher."

Buffy and Giles again exchanged a glance, this time Giles answered. "When the previous Slayer was killed, the Council waited for a Watcher to inform them which Potential had become the Slayer. No call arrived. Messages went out, and all Watchers reported back that none of the Potentials had been Called. The Council was in a panic. There was fear that whatever power that had imbued the Slayer had been destroyed when the last Slayer was killed. Several of the Potentials were tested to see if they still had their magical auras, and they did. 

"Merrick was the one who raised the possibility that a girl had somehow been missed, and that she was the new Slayer. The Council seers declared this to be impossible, and other ideas were discussed. Merrick went to a coven of powerful witches in Devon and asked them to cast the spell. It pinpointed Buffy." 

Giles halted for a moment, looked searchingly at Buffy, then continued. "Merrick wrote in his diary that the leader of the coven told him that Buffy's being hidden was a sign from the Powers That Be. They are unhappy with the way the Council has been training the Slayers. Isolation doesn't make a Slayer stronger; it makes her weaker. She needs to be connected to the people she is destined to protect. Merrick was intending to allow Buffy to live as normal a life as possible, with her parents. He came on his own, to see her and begin her training." 

"The head of the Council, a man named Travers, was furious and tried to have Merrick recalled. A Council vote overruled him. It was felt, and this was supported by the reports that Merrick was sending back, that to replace him would be detrimental to Buffy’s training."

Snyder looked at Buffy in amazement. "So you didn’t know anything about all this until after you were the Slayer?"

"Yeah, happy 15th birthday. I woke up that morning and felt kinda funny. Then I broke almost everything I touched, because I didn’t know how to adjust my grip. My whole body was buzzing with all this energy that I didn’t know what to do with. It was a freaky couple of days, then it got even weirder. This old guy showed up and told me I had a destiny. He gave me the whole ‘one girl in all the world’ speech and expected me to jump up and down in joy that I had been Chosen. I told him to get lost. He told me that it was dangerous for me to ignore what he was saying, that the Slayer aura would draw the vampires to me. He told me that if I came with him that night, he could prove everything he was telling me."

Buffy looked thoughtful. "Thinking about it now, there must have been some sort of Watcher/Slayer bond thing going then, because there is no other reason that I can think of why I went out to meet him." She turned to her mother. "Mom, if you had ever seen him you would have called the police. He looked like the stereotypical child molester. Wrinkled brown raincoat, hat, straggly gray hair, scruffy beard. The first time he walked up to me I was expecting him to say ’Do you want some candy little girl’."

She blinked back sudden tears. "But he was the sweetest man I had ever met up till then. Even sweeter than Daddy. I’ll never forget the look in his eye when Lothos was holding him hostage. Lothos threatened to kill him if I didn’t surrender. Merrick told me to run, to save myself, and he meant it, I could see it in his eyes. He thought my life was more important than his. I was frozen; I just stood there and watched when Lothos put that stake in his heart. Merrick looked at me with such love, and his last words were, Buffy run." She broke down, sobbing.

Joyce and Snyder looked on, horrified, as Giles pulled her into his arms. "He died the way he wanted; protecting his Slayer. His diary is full of how proud he was of you. In many ways you were the daughter he never had."

"I should have protected him, but I just froze. I was so scared. I failed him, just like I failed you. I didn’t protect you from Angelus. He almost killed you, Giles, and it would have been my fault."

"No, Buffy. I should have been safe in the library with Kendra. It’s not your fault." Buffy raised her head and started to speak, but Giles placed a finger over her lips. "We have been over this before. It was not your fault; it was what was. It is in the past, and we have no way to go back to change it." He stared down into her eyes for a long moment. She nodded. Giles pulled her to him for a quick hug, then let her go, giving her his handkerchief.

Snyder drew a deep breath. "So, you have no choice in this, you’re stuck being the Slayer."

"Until I die, again."

"Die again?"

"Yeah, I've already died once. This vampire called The Master drowned me, but Xander had followed me and he pulled me out and did CPR." Buffy turned to Giles, "I bet that Travers guy did handsprings when he heard another Slayer had been Called. At least until you let him know I was still around."

"Yes, well, he did seem rather astonished at the notion of two active Slayers. It has never happened before in Council memory. In fact, they are currently wondering if another Slayer will be called when you die again, or if you are out of the loop, so to speak." Giles looked resolute. "They’ll have a bloody long wait before they find out, if I have anything to say about it."

Joyce looked shaken. "You never told me that you died."

"Sorry, Mom, you didn’t know about the Slaying then, and there didn’t seem to be a need for you to know later. It happened over a year ago, nothing you could do about it now. Kendra was the one Called when I died, then when she was killed by Drucilla, Faith was Called."

"Faith, she’s that dark haired girl that I’ve seen you with lately?"

"Yeah, she’s kinda scary sometimes, really likes the slaying. I think from some things she’s said that her Watcher was really hard on her when she was growing up."

Snyder turned to Giles, "If you have the time, I’d really like to hear more about all this. How many of the things that have happened at school are due to vampires?"

Before Giles could answer Joyce broke in, "Lee, why don’t you and Mr. Giles go to the living room; you can be more comfortable there. Buffy and I will make some tea and bring it in."

Buffy and Giles looked at each other, eyebrows raised. "Lee?" Buffy mouthed. Giles looked back at Snyder. "If I recall correctly, the nameplate on your desk has R as your first initial."

Snyder blushed, "It’s a family name, I don’t use it very often."

"I think it’s a wonderful name, different and unique. I don‘t understand why you don‘t like to use it." Joyce said.

Buffy looked at Snyder with sympathy. "Unique, huh? Bet you had trouble at school when you were a kid." Buffy glanced at Joyce. "I can relate. Come on, spill, what is it?"

Snyder looked at the floor and said, in a voice so low that if Buffy hadn’t been the Slayer she wouldn’t have heard, "Raleigh."

"Raleigh? You mean like, Sir Walter?" Snyder cringed. "Wow, harsh."

"You should try going through boys preparatory school with the same name as a comic strip character." Giles murmured. At their blank looks he continued. "In England, Rupert Bear is as famous as Mickey Mouse is here."

Buffy and Joyce giggled. Snyder looked at Giles with a new understanding, and the two men left the kitchen. Buffy turned to her mother.

"Mom, does this morning mean that Snyder is going to be in your life on a regular basis?"

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Well, until this morning, he hasn’t been very understanding of things. He kicked me out of school and only let me back in because Giles forced him. He’s always threatening to suspend me or Willow or Xander, and he’s been trying to get Giles fired."

"Like you said, that was before this morning. Or rather, before yesterday. He saw quite a lot last night, and I answered some questions when we got back here. I think you’ll find that he’s going to be a lot more supportive of you and Mr. Giles."

Buffy silently filled the teapot and put it on the stove. "But he’s so different from Daddy. Can you be happy with him?"

"Buffy, yes, he is not like you‘re father, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And no one is talking about anything permanent. But as the candy started wearing off, we started talking and we found that we have a lot in common. It will be nice to have a grown-up to talk to now and then, someone to take me out to dinner. Someone I can talk to about the vampires and demons. Someone I can fix a nice dinner for every once in a while."

"Mom, Giles would be happy to talk to you about all that stuff. All you had to do was ask."

"Honey, I know Mr. Giles would explain anything I asked him about, but I need another adult I can talk to. One who will understand my frustration because he is as much in the dark about all of this as I am. Does that make sense?"

"Well, okay I guess. But he better be nice to you or I’ll sic Ripper on him." Buffy gave her mother a hug.

Joyce went over to the cupboard, then stopped and turned back. "I just remembered! Did you save the babies?"

"Yep, mission accomplished. I fried the demon. Got Giles too; had to do a little first aid on him after we got back to his place. I stayed to make sure he was okay, but I fell asleep. It's a good thing he didn't have some kind of reaction and need to go to the hospital."

Joyce looked her over, frowning. "Weren’t you wearing a different outfit yesterday?"

"Yeah, got demon goo all over it, had to toss it. I always keep a couple of changes at Giles’ just in case I get messed up on patrol. I stop and change there so you won’t see the clothes and worry." Buffy focused her attention on preparing the tea. 

Joyce felt that something wasn’t quite right, but didn’t want to question her further. She remembered how possessive ’Ripper’ had been of ’His Slayer’. There were some definite vibes between the two, but Joyce was sure that Mr. Giles would never cross the line. She turned back to the cupboard to get out the cups and some cookies.

Buffy relaxed. She hated lying to her mom, but Joyce wasn’t ready to hear about her and Giles yet. Besides, no matter how much Snyder seemed to be on their side, if he found out about her and Giles he could get him deported. So, no telling Mom, because she would be sure to tell Snyder. Giles wouldn’t like it, but he would agree.


	3. Revelations

Three hours later Giles opened the door to his apartment. Buffy followed him in and closed the door, leaning against it. They stood looking at each other. "Well," said Giles, breaking the silence, "this has been an interesting morning." Silence returned to the room. Buffy broke first and started giggling. A few seconds later, Giles joined in. After long moments, Buffy tried to catch her breath to speak.

"I never thought I would feel sorry for Snyder, but, that name. On top of his being so short and with those ears, he must have been a bully magnet in school."

"I know, like fate had painted a bulls-eye on his back."

Buffy walked over and put her arms around him. "Did you get picked on too, my Rupert Bear?"

"Oh, God, I knew I was going to regret saying that in front of you. Of course I was bullied. Children, especially little boys, are monsters. Ethan used to make all manner of jokes about my name. Ripper came about as much for self-defense as anything else."

"I won't let anyone bully you any more. You're MY Rupert Bear." Buffy sighed, tightening her arms and laying her head on his chest. "I can hardly wait until after graduation when I can replace Mr. Gordo with my own personal snuggle bear."

Giles pulled her closer and whispered against her ear, "Snuggle bear?"

"Mhm. This morning was like waking up with a great big, warm, teddy bear wrapped all around me. It was wonderful. I felt so safe, so loved."

"This morning was the fulfillment of all my dreams; you in my bed, in my arms." He kissed down behind her ear, and bit gently. She moaned and shuddered. "That's the spot." He chuckled.

Buffy pushed him away, giving him a mock frown. "Hey, no fair. You know all that secret Watcher stuff from, how did you put it, that randy lot who were quite inventive."

Giles' eyes lit with a mischievous gleam. Buffy was reminded of Ripper when she first found him in the cemetery. Part little boy, part predatory male. She started backing away. "Now, Giles, behave."

Giles surged forward, sweeping her up into his arms. He sat on the couch, with her on his lap. He smiled, a very Ripperish smile, and purred, "Oh, I can be quite inventive on my own, Luv. Now, however, I am responding to your challenge." At Buffy's blank expression he said, "You remember, where you wanted to know if my smoochies were as good as Rippers'." He pulled her close and kissed her.

Long moments later he pulled back, looking down on her dazed expression. "Well, Luv?"

Buffy took a deep breath. "I say we don't wait until the next day, we should head for Vegas as soon as the graduation ceremony is over." She hooked her arm around his head and pulled him into another kiss. 

Buffy had moved around to straddle his lap and things were beginning to spiral out of control when, on the edge of his consciousness, Giles heard his front door open. The loud exclamations had he and Buffy pulling quickly apart. 

"Oh, my God!"

"Eep!"

Oh, gross."

"Way to go, B."

"It's about time."

They turned their gazes to the group standing in the doorway. Xander looked upset, Willow stunned, Cordelia disgusted, and Faith was grinning broadly. Oz had no expression on his face, but his eyes were smiling. Giles felt a bit of a draft from the open door and looked down to see that his shirt was missing. A quick glance showed that Buffy was also topless. He pulled her back against him, shielding her from the others.

Buffy blinked, startled, when she felt bare skin on skin, glanced down, then looked up at him. She blushed, but grinned. "Oops."

"It's the candy, right?" Xander rushed into speech, obviously distraught. "Giles is still under the influence of the candy."

Willow looked at him in bewilderment. "But what about Buffy? She didn't eat any of the candy. Why is she all naked-y with Giles?"

"Well, maybe she was hungry and he didn't have anything else to eat."

Giles gave a little moan and dropped his head back against the couch.. "Xander, do shut up. All of you go back outside and close the door. You can come back in five minutes."

"Five minutes? Even at your age it should take longer than that."

Giles blushed bright red. "Faith!" He raised his head to glare at Xander. "Out!" The group hurried out the door and it slammed shut. Buffy's shoulders started shaking and Giles looked down in alarm. Tears were streaming down her face. "Beloved, I'm sorry," Giles began, then noticed that she was smiling. Laughter erupted. 

"I wish I had a camera; that look on Xander's face! And Willow! I guess we don't have to worry about how we're going to tell them." Buffy paused, startled. "Wait a minute, did Oz say it's about time?"

"I believe he did. I'll have to have a talk with that young man. Meanwhile, we need to get dressed." Giles looked around and spotted his shirt on the far end of the sofa. However, when he picked it up, it was only part of his shirt. He looked at it, then looked at Buffy.

"Sorry, Slayer strength."

"Dear lord. I hope I didn't ruin yours again."

Buffy found her top behind the sofa. "Nope, still in one piece." She pulled it on.

"Good." Giles headed for the loft to get another shirt, finding the rest of the other one on the stairs. He was still in the bedroom when the door opened a crack and Faith called out, "Is it safe to come in now?"

"Yeah, come on in, cranky guy's still upstairs." 

Faith came swaggering in. "I got to tell you B, I didn’t think you had it in you. How is he?"

Buffy crossed her arms. "Not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t know." She glared at them. "We got interrupted."

"And even if we hadn’t been interrupted, she still wouldn’t know. Not until she’s 18. I’m not in a hurry to be deported for having sex with a minor." Giles spoke from the top of the stairs, glaring at Buffy. 

"This is because of the candy, right? Please tell me it’s the candy." Xander looked desperate.

"Sort of. The candy made him more of a share guy and we cleared some things up."

"This is not the natural order of things. Who knows what else might have happened last night."

"Yeah, like the way your Mom was dancing with Snyder. If that could happen, anything could happen." Willow looked at Buffy and saw the glance she and Giles shared.

"Snyder and your Mom were dancing together? That is sick." Cordelia said. Xander goggled, his mouth opening and closing without a sound coming out.

"Will, it’s worse."

"You don’t mean they?"

"Yeah. And this morning, when I went home, he was still there. Mom likes him. She said he’s really sweet and misunderstood and she’s going to date him."

Xander sat down abruptly on the floor. "Your Mom. Tall, blonde, beautiful. Joyce? That Mom? She did the horizontal hop with Snyder?" Buffy nodded. "Snyder. Short guy, big ears, looks kinda like a Ferengi? She likes him and wants to date him?"

"Yeah. That‘s not all; she told him about the slaying. He‘s totally on board with it. He said we can use the library as much as we need."

"Well, we need to hit the books, there must be an apocalypse headed our way." Xander stood and headed to the bookshelves.

Buffy looked at Giles and inclined her head towards the patio door. He nodded. "Xander, we need to talk." He led him outside.

Buffy turned to Faith. "During our talk with Snyder this morning, we explained how there are now two Slayers. Mom was really upset to find out that you were living in a motel. We talked it over, and if you want to, you can come stay with us. We have another bedroom that Mom is just using as storage for the gallery. It wouldn’t be any trouble at all to clean it out."

Faith looked at her, stunned. "I don’t know, B."

"I know, you’re used to being on your own, not having to answer to anybody about your comings and goings. It’s up to you. And it is a real offer, she means it, she didn’t just say it to impress Snyder or Giles."

"How do you feel about it?"

"Truth? I worry about Mom when I’m not there. It would be nice to know she’s not always alone. Not that I would expect you to be a babysitter or anything like that." Buffy hastened to add. "You know, when we decided to take turns slaying, if you were there on some of my nights I’d know she’s safe. Too many of the bad guys in town know she’s the Slayer’s mom." Buffy giggled. "Plus it would be nice to have someone else for her to focus her mom radar on, take some of the pressure off me. She can be a real mother hen sometimes."

Faith still looked uncertain. "I need to think about it."

"Okay, whatever you choose, it's cool. If you decide to move in, we're gonna need a couple days to get the room ready. Like I said, she's using it as storage right now."

The patio door opened and Giles entered with a dazed looking Xander. Buffy raised her eyebrows. Giles gave a small shrug. Faith watched the exchange with interest. "When did you two learn read each other's minds?"

Buffy frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Giles said, "We're not reading each other's minds, not exactly. It's more a reading of emotions. Last night while I was under the influence of the candy I did something that the Council has forbidden for the past one hundred years. I created a magical bond between Buffy and myself. Over time it will grow stronger and eventually we will be able to read each other's minds."

Buffy paled. "Giles, you have to turn it off."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to die."

There was a confusing babble of voices as the others in the room protested this statement. Giles raised his hand to silence them. "I have no intention of dying any time soon. Buffy is just concerned about a side effect of the bond." He looked at her, smiling softly. "When a Watcher is bonded to his Slayer, her fate becomes his."

Faith frowned. "And that means?"

"When I die, he dies. Giles, there has to be a way to turn this thing off."

"I'm sorry, Luv, Ripper saw the opportunity to bond with his Slayer and took it. As far as I'm aware, there is no way to sever the bond. And Buffy," he continued gently, "this works both ways. If I die first, you will die with me. This is not something I would have chosen to do. I don't want you to die either."

Buffy went over and gave Giles a hug. "Ripper can be a lot of fun, but he's also a big pain in the butt."

"Yes, well, at the time that was rather the point." He returned her hug, placing a kiss on top of her head.

"Okay, I'm confused. First you said you did it, now you say some dude named Ripper did it. Who was it?"

Willow cut in. "Ripper was Giles back before he was a Watcher. He used to be in a rock band, and the candy made him revert back to that. You should have seen him last night. He looked so cool; tight bluejeans and an earring." She smiled blissfully at Giles, who blushed.

"Major bad boy, huh? I can see it. Even in that tweed he looks good." Faith eyed Giles in a way that made him blush more. She stepped over and took hold of his left arm, examining the tattoo left exposed by the short sleeves of the shirt. "A tattoo even. Interesting design, what's it stand for?"

Buffy grimaced. "This group he was running with at the time raised a demon. The only way it would show up was if you put this tattoo on you. Kinda like making you the demon's property. One of the group died, that's when Giles went back to become a Watcher. Last year Ethan, an old buddy of Rippers, showed up because someone else had raised the demon and it had gotten loose. It was pissed because Giles' group had stopped raising it and it came after everyone with the tattoo." She turned around showing the tattoo on her upper back. "Ethan blindsided me and tied me up, then put the tattoo on me so when the demon showed up it went for me instead of him. We banished the demon, with a little help."

"Why would anyone want to raise a demon?" Faith stared as Buffy and the Scoobies all started grinning. 

Giles turned and headed for the kitchen. "I believe that's enough on that subject. Anyone for tea?"

Buffy and Willow started giggling. Faith looked at them in exasperation. "Spill."

Glancing through the kitchen pass through at the red neck of her Watcher, Buffy said, "Eyghon was an orgy demon. When summoned by the ritual, anyone in the room where he appeared became really horny. Ripper and company would go to bars and hit on girls. Tell them all about how they could do magic, REAL magic, and invite the girls' back to their flat to see. They would raise Eyghon and presto, instant party."

Faith looked towards Giles, mouth open in shock. "Major bad boy is right. Damn, B, lucky you. My Watcher had all the personality of a piece of white bread."

"We think that's why the Council made him my Watcher. Ex-rebel Watcher with a bad boy past and the Slayer that didn't get trained. They probably thought we'd get each other killed and it would rid them of two problems at once. I'm still willing to bet that Travers guy did a happy dance when he heard Kendra was Called."

Giles came back into the living room. "Alright, that's enough. I don’t have to justify things that happened before you lot were even born. Was there some reason you descended on us today."

Willow said, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That the burns really went away."

"I'm fine, Willow. I do want to apologize for my actions last night. Giving someone magical knowledge in that manner is a terrible invasion of privacy. I'm sorry that I did that while Ripper was in control."

"It's cool. I'm glad I was able to help you. And now I've got all these nifty spells in my head. I can't wait to try some of them." At his look of alarm she hastened to add. "Around you, of course. Just in case I make a mistake." Willow looked troubled. "Giles, why didn't you show me how to do that when Angelus hurt you? You were in so much pain; I could have helped you." Her eyes widened at Buffy's sob. "Oh, sorry, my bad."

Buffy ran for the loft, Giles' eyes following her. He lowered his head, drew a deep breath. "Willow, you were too weak. Mostly because you had already expended so much energy casting the restoration spell, but also due to your injuries when Angelus attacked you." He looked at her, giving her a gentle smile. "I endured, I healed. We all did."

"If I can teach you anything about magic is must be this: Magic should only be used to help others. My giving you that spell last night was selfish. Payment will be demanded of me at some point. It was the same with Eyghon. Randall was killed then, and although it was more than 20 years later, Thomas, Phillip and Deidra also paid with their lives. Part of my payment was the knowledge that it was my fault that Eyghon hurt Buffy and Jenny. I'm sure that the torture I endured at the hands of Angelus was also part of my payment. Ethan's payment was the pain he had to endure when he used the acid to burn Eyghon's symbol from his arm. Selfish use of magic always demands a price."

He touched the tattoo. "That is the real reason I left this here all those years. As a reminder of my reckless use of magic and the price I would one day have to pay."

Faith shook her head. "I feel like I don't know you people at all. Raising demons, restoration spells, tattoos, torture. And who is this Angelus dude you keep talking about?"

Giles turned away, staring out the window. The others exchanged looks, then Xander said, "We'll tell you later."

"No, I'll tell her." Buffy spoke from the stairs. "But not here and not now. Would you patrol with me tonight?" At Faith's nod, Buffy continued down the steps. "Guys, it was nice of you to worry, but as you can see, Ripper has left the building. Would you mind if I throw you out?" The others glanced at Giles, who was still looking out the window; they nodded and silently left. Buffy locked the door behind them.

Buffy crossed the room and laid her head against Giles' back, circling him with her arms. After a few minutes she said, "I love listening to your heartbeat." She gently tightened her arms. "Say, Watcher-mine, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, how about we take a nap?"

Giles reluctantly drew away and turned to face her. "Buffy, you know we can't…."

She giggled. "I said nap and I meant nap, I don't want you deported either." She took his hand and led him towards the loft. "Who knows when we'll get the chance again. I have a feeling Mom is going to be keeping a pretty sharp eye on us for a while, so I want one more really nice memory to hold me till my birthday."

Giles toed off his shoes and lay down on the bed. Buffy kicked off her sandals, waited until he got comfortable, then laid down beside him, placing her head on his chest over his heart. She soon drifted off to sleep, but he remained awake, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts in turmoil. 

 

Patrol had been busy. All the vampires who had been inactive the night before had been out in force, but together the two Slayers had no problems. As they swept the last cemetery, Buffy finished telling Faith all about the Angel/Angelus situation. 

"I just couldn't take it. Kendra was dead, the police were after me, I had to send Angel to Hell, Mom kicked me out of the house, the others were hurt and it was all my fault. I ran away. I spent two months working as a waitress in this little diner, just trying not to think about what might be happening here. Then my Slayer karma kicked in and I got kidnapped by a demon and sent to another dimension as a slave. After I led a revolt, kicked the demon's butt and found a way back for the others who were there, I decided I had to face up to what I had done and I came home."

"What happened then?" 

"Xander and Willow were mad at me, though Willow tried to hide it. Mom had turned my bedroom into another storage room and was all embarrassed about it. And Giles, Giles just smiled and said welcome home. He never let on about how hurt he had been. None of them told me, though to be honest, I didn't want to know. I just found out last night, when I saw the scars." 

"Pretty bad?"

"Yeah. Whip, knife, cigarettes, chainsaw."

"Christ, B. Chainsaw?"

"Giles said that Angelus was so angry that he couldn't break him that he lost control and was going to dismember him with the chainsaw. Just as he cut the top of his left shoulder, Spike kept his part of our deal and stopped him."

"I can't believe you made a deal with a vampire to save Giles."

"I would have made a deal with the devil himself to get Giles out of there. The only thing I couldn't do was to go in myself. That's what Angelus wanted me to do. He wanted to kill Giles in front of me." Buffy stopped and turned to Faith.

"Looks like we're done for the night. I have something I need to do and I would really like some back-up. Would you do me a favor and come with me? It won't take long, half an hour, tops."

Faith nodded and quietly followed Buffy, thinking about everything she had just heard. B's life hadn't been the perky cheerleader existence she had thought it was. Some serious stuff had happened to her and her Watcher. Still she couldn't help but feel a little envious. What would it be like to have a Watcher that would give her that kind of devotion?

Buffy turned down Crawford St. and crossed the lawn of one of the older, unoccupied homes. As they entered a door in the back, Faith heard music. They went down the stairs to the basement and saw a man doing Tai Chi. As the music ended, he turned and saw them standing, watching. 

His face lit in a smile, "Buffy, I didn’t expect to see you tonight." He started forward, then stopped abruptly when he noticed Faith. "Who’s your friend?"

"Faith, this is Angel. Angel, this is Faith the Vampire Slayer. She was the one Called when Kendra was killed. You remember Kendra, the Slayer that Drucilla killed when Angelus kidnapped Giles." 

"B, I thought you said that you sent him to Hell."

"I did. The Powers sent him back a few weeks ago. He was in bad shape, I’ve been helping him get stronger."

"He looks in pretty good shape to me."

Buffy looked at Angel thoughtfully. "Yeah, a lot better than two days ago. Maybe he wasn’t hurt as bad as I thought."

Angel looked at her reproachfully. "I was very weak. You know what I had endured. I’m just now getting my full strength back."

"Well, now that you’re back to full strength, I’m sure you’ll be wanting to go ahead with your plans to leave Sunnydale."

"What plans?"

"You remember, back before it all went bad, you said you were planning to leave Sunnydale because we couldn’t be together. I think now, more than ever, you’d want to keep to those plans."

"But, the Powers sent me back. You must need me here to help you on the Hellmouth." Angel protested.

"Two Slayers here. I think we can handle the Hellmouth. Maybe the Powers sent you back because someone in LA needs your help. I think you should leave as soon as you can, like tomorrow." Buffy turned and started to leave.

"Wait, Buffy, you don’t mean that. What’s happened? Is Giles forbidding you to see me?"

Buffy stopped, and for an instant Faith saw her face crumble. She stiffened and her face hardened. Turning back she said in a voice of ice, "Giles hasn’t forbidden anything. He doesn’t even know you’re here." She glared. "I saw Giles’ back and chest last night. You should leave before I decide to stake you after all."

Angel did something that Faith thought impossible. He paled. "That wasn’t me. You know that."

"Part of me knows and understands. Part of me wants to stake you here and now so it can never happen to anyone else. Just save us all a lot of trouble and leave." Buffy turned and ran up the stairs and out of the house. 

Faith watched as Angel’s shoulders slumped. She said, "Nothing personal, and I think I understand your situation, the soul and all, but if B wants you to leave, you should leave. And if she decides to stake you, don’t count on her not being able to do it, cause if necessary I’ll do it for her." She also left the house. Looking around, Faith saw Buffy standing on the corner, head bent. She joined her and saw the tears sliding down her face. "I’m sorry, B, that had to be hard."

"Yeah, that was hard, but the really hard part is what I have to do next." She wiped the tears from her face and straightened. "I have to tell Giles."

"Why? Angel’s leaving town. Giles doesn’t need to know he was even here." 

"Our relationship is just getting started; I’m not going to lie to him. He has to know that the Powers have sent Angel back, even if he never sets foot in Sunnydale again." Buffy drew a deep breath. "Thanks for going with me, the moral support helped." Buffy headed towards Giles’ apartment building. 

"B, if it’s okay with you, I’ll go tell your Mom where you are, and why. Take as long as you need, I’ll stay with her." Faith heard a faint, "Thanks" from Buffy retreating figure. She stood thinking for a long time, then headed to Buffy’s house. 

Buffy stood staring at Giles’ door, then gathering her courage, she knocked. 

Giles opened the door, looking at her in astonishment. "Buffy, I didn’t expect to see you tonight. Come in." After she entered the apartment, Giles took a closer look at her face and pulled her into his arms. "Dear heart, what’s wrong?" 

Buffy hugged him back fiercely, taking strength from his nearness. She pulled away and led him over to the couch. He sat next to her, looking at her in concern. "Giles, there’s something I need to tell you." 

 

A Few Months Later - The Day After Graduation Day

Buffy woke from the most marvelous dream, to find that it was real. A warm male body was wrapped around hers and velvet soft lips were buried in the nape of her neck. She opened her eyes and saw the lightening eastern sky through the window of the honeymoon suite at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. The past few months had been a wild ride, but they had finally made it. 

And to think it was all because of Ethan Rayne.

Buffy and Giles had kept looking over their shoulders yesterday because they were sure that Ethan would have somehow found out and would try to spoil things, but there had been no sign of him. Both had heaved a great sigh of relief when they finally closed the door to the suite, locking out the world. 

Buffy had felt absurdly shy, standing in the middle of the room while Rupert had poured champagne. There had been a few intense encounters between them after her 18th birthday, but he had wanted to wait until they married. One reason had been that, technically, he was her teacher, and even with Snyder on their side it could have caused trouble. The other reason had been Joyce. They had wanted to give her time to accept their relationship, so no fooling around. It hadn’t been easy.

One of the biggest problems they had faced after the beginning of their relationship had been Travers’ attempt to make Giles give her the Cruciamentum on her 18th birthday. Giles had refused, and had told Buffy all about the test. When Kralik got loose and kidnapped Joyce, Buffy had told Travers if her mother died, he was next. Giles had called the Council to get information about Kralik to try to find a weakness, and was told that Travers was working without their authority. Together Buffy and Faith, using the information from the Council, had freed Joyce and destroyed Kralik. Travers was escorted home in chains to face Council judgment.

Saving Joyce had brought Buffy and Faith closer together, and Faith had finally taken her up on the offer to move in with them. Knowing someone cared and the structure of a loving home life gave Faith the stability she needed. Giles had made a passionate plea to the Council for a Watcher for Faith, his point being that since he and Buffy had bonded, he couldn’t give Faith the support or loyalty she deserved. The Council had agreed, but had unfortunately sent a Watcher fresh out of training. 

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce had at first been unbelievably uptight and self-righteous, but he and Faith had quickly developed into an impressive team. Buffy personally thought a large part of it was due to Faith beating the stuffing out of him during training sessions. The kicker was the first time he went on patrol with her. He finally understood the difference between theory and real life when she saved him from a vampire.

The body behind her shifted, the arms pulling her closer. One hand began moving caressingly across her stomach, the bandages adding a teasing scratchiness. Her mind traveled back to yesterday morning, Graduation Day, the day of the Mayor’s attempted ascension. 

Buffy had tried to keep Giles safe. The plan to kill the demon by blowing up the library had kept him out of the main action. It should have worked, however two independent vampires had left the main formation and had found Giles in the shrubbery . He had managed to stake one, but had been fighting a loosing battle with the other when she jumped. 

In the midst of his fight he hadn’t seen her come through the window, and when the vampire had knocked him onto the plunger, setting off the explosives, she had been stunned by the flood of pain that had come across the bond. At first she had thought it physical, but had then realized it was emotional. He thought that she was still in the library. With a roar he had jumped up, pummeling the vampire with his bare hands, until Buffy had pulled herself together and staked the vamp.

Giles’ injuries had been minor. Unfortunately this hadn’t been the case for too many others. So many hurt, so many dead. At first they were afraid that Wesley had been paralyzed, but the paralysis had been temporary. Their biggest loss had been Snyder. He had been instrumental in feeding the mayor false information about their plans and Buffy had begged him to leave town with her Mom. He had refused, saying that it would alert the mayor that something was going on if he wasn’t there. Buffy had argued that it would be too late for the mayor to do anything about it. He had finally admitted to her that his real reason was that he didn’t want to disappoint Joyce by running away from something her daughter had to face. At the end, he had distracted the demon for a few precious seconds, giving Buffy a head start on her run to the library. 

The lips on her nape moved to her ear. "Good morning, Mrs. Giles." There was a gentle nibble on her lobe.

Buffy turned in her husbands’ arms. "Good morning, My Rupert Bear. Did you sleep well?"

"I’m not sure. Did we sleep?"

Buffy giggled and glanced at the clock on the table behind him. "It would appear we did; a whole two hours." 

"Two hours? Long enough." He pulled her to him for a deep kiss. The telephone rang.

Pulling apart, they look at each other, then both heads turned to look at the phone. "You have to be kidding. Who would be calling us?" Buffy looked at Rupert, amazed. He started to reach for the phone, but she grabbed his arm. "Don’t answer it."

"Dear heart, we must. No one would call us unless it was important."

"I don’t care if the Hellmouth is opening, we’re on our honeymoon. Don’t answer it."

"What if something has happened to Joyce?"

Buffy moaned and flopped back on the bed. "Okay, answer it."

"Rupert Giles speaking."

"Hello, Ripper. I was going to leave a message, I thought you’d be too busy shagging your Slayer to answer."

"Ethan, what the hell do you want?"

"Nothing, I was just calling to offer my congratulations. You can thank me the next time we meet."

"Sod off." Rupert slammed the handset down onto the cradle. "Bloody hell." He got out of bed, pacing back and forth angrily. 

"Rupert, what’s wrong?" Buffy sat up, viewing him in alarm.

"Bloody pillock is taking credit for our being together."

Buffy smiled, enjoying the sight of his unconscious nudity. "So. He’s right. You would have never made a move on me if you hadn’t been under the influence of the candy, and I would have never noticed you were so sexy."

"It’s one thing for us to admit it to each other, but I’ll be damned if I’ll admit it to him. We’d never be rid of him."

"We’ll never be rid of him anyway. As long as Ethan is alive, he’ll pop up from time to time and irritate us." Buffy got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. "Since we’re up we might as well go down to the breakfast buffet." She started counting silently in her head.

At three, she was swept up and placed back on the bed. Rupert leaned over her, caging her between his arms. "I have all the breakfast I need, right here." He pressed her into the bed, fusing his mouth to hers.

 

Across town, Ethan Rayne released the spell that had given him a view of the honeymoon suite. Ripper was a lucky dog, no doubt about it. He moved restlessly in his chair. Time to take his mind off what was going on in that room. He made a gesture and the television came on. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was playing and, appropriately enough, the shop keeper was singing the Candy Man song. Ethan started laughing. Chaos was a wonderful master. 

The end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. The use of the initial ’R’ for Snyder’s first name comes from the Sunnydale High School Yearbook. It was the only reference that I found for his first name, so my sister helped me come up with one that would pretty much guarantee that he got picked on. I think that Raleigh fills the bill nicely.


End file.
